What to know about Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top European leaders met with United States President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss plans to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Trump convened the meeting after last week’s three-hour summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where Putin rejected the idea of a ceasefire before reaching a comprehensive peace deal and urged Ukraine to surrender territory in the east in exchange for freezing the front line elsewhere.Trump and Zelenskyy’s interactions were notably warmer than during their tense encounter at the White House in February, with the US president even praising his counterpart’s suit.

Here are the key takeaways:

Trump says US will give Ukraine ‘very good protection’
Trump said the US would back Europe in protecting Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war with Russia.

“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said, describing European countries as the “first line of defence”.

“We have people waiting in another room, right now, they’re all here from Europe,” Trump added. “Biggest people in Europe. And they want to give protection. They feel very strongly about it, and we’ll help them out with that.”

Trump also said that US support for Ukraine would continue regardless of the outcome of the talks.

“It’s never the end of the road. People are being killed, and we want to stop that. So, I would not say it was the end of the road. I think we have a good chance of doing it,” he said.Zelenskyy says he’s open to elections in Ukraine, if safe
Zelenskyy backed elections, provided they are held under safe circumstances.

“Yes, of course. We are open, yes… We need to work in the parliament because during the war, you can’t have elections, but we can, we can do security,” Zelenskyy said.

“We need a truce… to make it possible for people to do democratic, open, legal, legal elections,” he added.

Trump says ceasefire not needed
When asked if he would carry out his promise from last week to impose “severe consequences” on Russia if it does not end the war, Trump replied that a ceasefire may not be needed.

“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” Trump said.

“You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires. And I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn’t want it,” he said.

“But we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting,” Trump added.

“They have to fight. I wish they could stop.”

Trump has claimed credit for helping to end six wars, including conflicts between India and Pakistan and Cambodia and Thailand.