Zelensky-Trump meeting Highlights: European shares rise amid potential peace deal

Trump-EU leaders talks LIVE: Ukrainian President Zelensky went on another “thank you” spree on X after his meeting with Trump and European leaders.

Reposting leaders' remarks after the "Coalition of the Willing" meeting, the Ukrainian president thanked his allies for the support.

The last time Zelensky went on such a spree was after the oval office spat with Trump and JD Vance, during which, he was accused on not being "thankful enough" to the US and its allies.

Oil slid as traders weighed the outlook for a ceasefire in Ukraine, with President Donald Trump pushing for a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky after a series of high-level talks.

Brent dropped below $66 a barrel, remaining within the narrow range in which prices have been stuck for the last two weeks. Any eventual peace deal could pave the way for fewer restrictions on Russian crude exports, though Moscow has largely kept its oil flowing since the conflict began.

Stock markets traded in a narrow range on Tuesday and oil prices dipped after US President Donald Trump held what he called "very good" talks with Ukrainian and European leaders on ending the war.

Hopes for a breakthrough rose after Trump said he spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and others at the White House.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a meeting of Ukraine's Coalition of the Willing later on Tuesday, following Trump-Zelensky talks in Washington, news agency Reuters reported, citing President Macron's Elysee office. The countries will work on security guarantees for Ukraine.

The dollar slipped as markets assessed the outcome of the summit between leaders from the U.S., Europe and Ukraine, while awaiting policy cues from an annual Federal Reserve symposium.

The euro and the sterling fluctuated slightly against the dollar, eventually edging up by about 0.2% and 0.1%, trading at $1.168 and $1.352, respectively. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc also saw modest gains, news agency Reuters reported.

European shares opened higher on Tuesday as investors weighed the possibility of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The STOXX 600 index, which tracks major European companies, rose slightly by 0.1 per cent, and most European stock markets performed positively, news agency Reuters reported. However, defence stocks fell by 0.7%. caused by news of a possible Ukraine-Russia summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that he is pushing for Geneva to host the peace summit between Russian and Ukrainian leaders Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Macron said, "It will be (hosted by) a neutral country, maybe Switzerland, I'm pushing for Geneva or another country," AFP reported, citing French news channel LCI.

Speaking after he and other European leaders joined the Ukrainian president for high-stakes meetings at the White House on Monday, Macron said the announced Zelensky-Putin summit would be held in Europe.

A regional Ukrainian official on Monday said that the overnight Russian attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace, news agency Reuters reported.

Vitalii Maletskyi, mayor of the city in the Poltava region, said that when Putin was assuring Trump that he sought peace, and President Zelenskiy was holding talks at the White House, Putin's army launched a massive attack on Kremenchuk. "Once again, the world has seen that Putin does not want peace — he wants to destroy Ukraine," he said further.

US President Donald Trump met seven European leaders at the White House on Monday, along with meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The leaders included 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. The EU leaders called for an urgent end to the war in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US would guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end its war with Russia during their meeting in Washington. Though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. "When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help," Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. "They are a first line of defence because they're there, but we'll help them out," he said further.

Zelensky hailed the promise as "a major step forward," adding that the guarantees would be "formalised on paper within the next week to 10 days," news agency ANI reported.

United States Senator Lindsey Graham said that the US must 'crush' the Russian economy by penalising countries that buy oil from them. In a post on X, Graham said, "My advice to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to convince Putin that if this war does not come to an end, we will crush the Russian economy by going after countries that buy their cheap oil and gas."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, for her 'peace letter' to Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising the issue of abducted Ukrainian children. Posting on his X account, Zelensky said that they deeply appreciate her compassion and letter to Putin.

"This issue lies at the heart of the war's humanitarian tragedy - our children, broken families, the pain of separation. At least 20,000 children were taken," he wrote further. Zelensky also said that Melania's voice matters and "her care gives strength to this case."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion worth of U.S. weapons, funded by Europe, as part of broader security guarantees discussed during his talks with President Donald Trump, ANI reported, citing CNN.

He also stated that while a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump has been agreed upon, no date has been set.

US President Donald Trump talked to the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, touching upon the topic of missing children in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In a post on Truth Social, he said that they have discussed the massive Worldwide problem of missing children. "It is a subject at the top of all lists, and the world will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families," he wrote further. Von der Leyen also called for Russia to return the abducted Ukrainian Children.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently posted, informing about the negotiations that took place in Washington, including a detailed conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump and meetings with European leaders. Key topics included security guarantees, battlefield developments, efforts to return Ukrainian children and prisoners held by Russia.

Zelenskyy highlighted the United States' support for being part of future security guarantees and a potential leaders' summit to address sensitive issues. He expressed gratitude to President Trump for hosting and acknowledged the unity shown by European and U.S. leaders in supporting Ukraine and working towards a lasting peace.

US President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Trump said the meeting’s location will be determined later.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb told Finnish reporters after the European leaders' meeting with Trump that they agreed on security guarantees as a step forward.

He said that the details of the security guarantees to be ironed out in the next week.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for sanctions against Russia if diplomacy fails.

After US President Donald Trump's meeting and the one with the EU leaders, and his call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is ready for bilateral meeting with Putin to end the war.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to continue close contact with each other over the war in Ukraine, TASS news agency reported, citing Kremlin aide.

According to reports from Russian agencies, a Kremlin aide said that the call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump lasted for 40 minutes.

The aide said that the two leaders spoke in favour of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly thanked Donald Trump for the hospitality and the well-organised meeting in Alaska, the Kremlin aide.

US President Donald Trump said that the call with Putin and the meeting with Zelensky before was a very good and early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years.

"After the meeting takes place, we will have a trilateral, which would be two Presidents, plus myself," he told reporters.

Trump said that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff are in coordination with Russia and Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said that he has begun arrangements for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The location for the meeting is yet to be determined.