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What European leaders said after Trump-Zelensky meeting at White House
Donald Trump had also interrupted his meeting with European Leaders to call Russian President Vladimir Putin following his talks with Ukrainian leader.
US President Donald Trump met seven European leaders at the White House on Monday after holding a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as the EU leaders called for an urgent end to the war in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were present at the table in the White House with Trump and Zelensky. Follow Trump-Zelensky talks LIVE updates
Before the meeting with the EU leaders, Trump and Zelensky held a public meeting and then a private meeting. While making public statements to reporters, the Ukrainian President signalled openness to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky said that this was the "best conversation with Trump so far", while the US President said he had a very successful day so far.
What did EU leaders say?
Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that "All of us want to finish the war and stop Russia."
He further said that Trump and the EU leaders will discuss more about security guarantees. "This is very important that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees," he added.
Zelensky described his talks with the US President as "the best conversation with Trump so far".
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He affirmed that Ukraine would be happy to attend a trilateral meeting with Trump.
French President Emmanuel Macron
Security guarantees have been a key point for negotiations on ending the war with Russia for Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron also suggested the presence of a European leader at the talks table as Donald Trump called for a three-way meeting between himself, Putin and Zelensky.
"We've worked very hard during the past few years to have a peace, which is a robust and long-standing peace. This is why the idea of a trilateral meeting is very important because this is the only way to fix it," Macron said.
"I think, as a follow-up, we would need probably a quadrilateral meeting. Because when we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent," Macron added.
NATO boss Mark Rutte
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday said at the White House, while making public statements, that US President Donald Trump's security guarantees offer for Ukraine is equal to a "breakthrough" in securing a truce deal for Ukraine.
“The fact that you have said ‘I am willing to participate in the security guarantees’ is a big step, it’s really a breakthrough, and it makes all the difference. So also thank you for that,” Rutte said.
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He also urged for the "killing" to be stopped. "We have to stop the destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure. This is a terrible war," Rutte added.
The NATO chief also thanked Trump for "breaking the deadlock" and bringing Putin to the table for truce talks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Merz called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and urged the leaders to "put pressure on Russia". The German Chancellor also praised Donald Trump for his role in the process of working out an angle to end the war.
"I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire. So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia," he said.
Merz said that "the path is open" for more serious negotiations to be held on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"Now the way is open for complicated negotiations," the German Chancellor said during the EU leaders' public statements at the White House.
European Commission's Ursula Von Der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called to work together on "a just and lasting peace".
"We are here to work together with you on a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, to stop the killing. Every single child has to go back to its family," Ursula added.
British PM Keir Starmer
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hoped that a really important step forward to end the war in Ukraine might be taken today.
“I think we could take a really important step forward today, a historic step actually to come out of this meeting in terms of security for Ukraine and security in Europe,” he said.
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Starmer further said that Trump's indication of 'Article-5 style' security guarantees corresponds with the work of the "Coalition of the Willing". He also added that the coalition is "prepared to step up to the plate" when it comes to ensuring Ukraine's security.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that security guarantees is among the many important topics they will discuss during the meeting with Trump.
"We will talk about many important topics. The first one is security guarantees, how to be sure that it won't happen again, which is the precondition of every kind of peace," Meloni added.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb
Finland's President Alexander Stubb said that Team Europe and Team United States are around the same table, helping Ukraine, describing it as a "very much symbolic" fact.
He lauded Trump for the progress made in the talks to resolve the Ukraine war. "I think in the past two weeks, we’ve probably had more progress in ending this war than we have in the past three and a half years,” he said.
He reminded the EU leaders at the table that his country, Finland, shares a border with Russia for more than 800 miles. He said that his country has its own experience with Russia during World War Two.
"We found a solution in 1944, and I'm sure that we'll be able to find a solution in 2025 to end Russia's war of aggression, find and get a lasting, just peace," Stubb added.
Meanwhile, Trump interrupted his meeting with the EU leaders and made a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US President said that he has already begun the arrangements for a meeting between Trump and Putin.
The meeting with the EU leaders, which moved to the Oval Office later, was held in a "leaders-only" format.
