President Donald Trump said he would be calling Russian President Vladimir Putin after hosting the president of Ukraine at the White House.
Trump sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Monday before also meeting with other European leaders hastily gathered in Washington.
The president said he wanted to stop the war in Ukraine and noted that he spoke “indirectly” with Putin right before Monday’s D.C. gathering.
“We’re going to have a phone call right after these meetings today,” Trump said of Putin.
The president said there may or may not be a trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelensky, and himself next, depending on what comes out of his meetings with Zelensky and other European leaders.
“He’s expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting,” Trump told gathered reporters.
The president’s public sitdown with Zelensky in the Oval Office had a very different tone from their disastrous meeting in February, where Trump berated Zelensky before he quickly departed.
Both Trump and Zelensky were cordial and measured with their words as the U.S. looks to broker a peace deal to the war that has been raging since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump immediately calling the Russian leader after Monday’s meetings is similar to his quick outreach to Zelensky after he met with Putin last week in Anchorage, Alaska.
Ever since Trump met with the Russian president on Friday, he has backed away from calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and instead said he hoped for a full peace deal.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” Trump said on Monday.
“I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason because you stop killing people immediately as opposed to in two weeks or one week, or whatever it takes, but we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting,” the president argued.
It comes as Russia has continued to pound Ukraine throughout the weekend despite Putin claiming he wanted peace during his meeting with Trump on U.S. soil last week.
Last Wednesday, the president said Russia would face severe consequences if Putin didn’t agree to a deal after their meeting last week, but he has since changed his tune.
However, Trump did not rule out sending U.S. troops to ensure the security of Ukraine on Monday as he looks to broker a deal.
“We’ll let you know that maybe later today,” Trump responded when asked about security guarantees by a reporter in the Oval Office.
The president noted that he was also meeting with European leaders at the White House on Monday after his talks with Zelensky, but said, “there’ll be a lot of help when it comes to security.”
“There’s going to be a lot of help. It’s going to be good,” the president said. “They are the first line of defense because they’re there. They’re Europe, but we’re going to help them out also, so we’ll be involved.”
After the president’s meeting with Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN over the weekend that the U.S. had gotten the concession that it could offer “Article 5-like protections” for Ukraine, as Russia has warned against its joining NATO.
During his Monday afternoon meeting with Zelensky and seven other European leaders, Trump repeated that he believed Putin wanted to reach a deal.
The president suggested leaders would know whether the war would come to an end in the next week or two and expressed optimism for setting up a trilateral meeting with both Putin and Zelensky in the near future.
