Trump pressures Ukraine to cede Crimea, drop campaign for NATO as he meets with Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with President Donald Trump at the White House, just days after Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin left an Alaska summit without a ceasefire deal.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that in a bid to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, he plans to set up a direct meeting between the two countries' leaders, followed by a trilateral meeting in which he would take part.

Trump revealed the next steps in his attempt to broker a peace deal on Truth Social after a full afternoon of meetings at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders who are eager to see Ukraine safeguarded from future Russian aggression.

When the talks ended, Trump wrote, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the arrangements. He spoke to Putin for about 40 minutes in the Oval Office without the European leaders present.

"Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine," Trump wrote.

Trump's report comes amid a rapid-fire effort on his part to end a conflict that began more than three years ago with Russia's invasion of its smaller democratic neighbor.