Zelensky, Trump to meet in Washington next week after US-Russia summit ends without agreement
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Aug. 18 to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine, following a call between the two leaders on Aug. 16.
The lengthy call comes a day after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, to which Zelensky was not invited. While Trump said he and Putin "made some headway" in peace talks, the summit saw no agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky said that Trump invited him to Washington on Aug. 18, where they will discuss "the end of the killings, the end of the war."
"We discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing security to Ukraine," he added, stressing the importance of Washington's influence on the peace process.
He also said he supports Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia, noting that the three leaders can cover the "key issues."
However, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state media that the idea of a trilateral meeting wasn't discussed in Alaska.
Zelensky first spoke to Trump one-on-one for an hour before European leaders joined for an additional 30 minutes.
Trump briefed the Ukrainian leader about his meeting with Putin, and said that he thinks a "fast peace deal" is better than a ceasefire, according to a source on the call, Axios journalist Barak Ravid wrote on X.
"It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump wrote on Truth Social after the call.
According to Ukrainian media Suspilne, the other phone call attendees included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish President Karol Nawrocki, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Zelensky said that Europe needs to be involved at every stage of the peace process, in order to "reliably guarantee security."
Some European officials criticized the Alaskan summit as a win for Putin while Trump got nothing in return.
Following the summit, Trump said that he and Putin had "largely agreed" on territorial swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine. Ahead of the meeting, Trump said that both sides would have to agree to "swap" land, although it is unclear what exactly he meant by that.
"I think we're pretty close to a deal," Trump said, adding: "Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say no."
A Ukrainian Presidential Office source earlier told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow's proposal would require Kyiv to withdraw from the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in exchange for a Russian pullback from parts of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
Zelensky has previously said he would not give up territory to Russia as part of peace negotiations, insisting instead that the first step should be a ceasefire.
