Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington for talks with President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.
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He was joined at the White House Monday by several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, among others.
Moments after arriving, Zelenskyy and Trump addressed the media.
"We're gonna have a lasting peace," Trump said. "I hope it's going be immediately. I hope it doesn't have to go on. And I think people, the whole world, is going to be very happy when that's announced."
In comments opening the meeting, President Trump then highlighted a focus of the meeting: The need for security guarantees for Ukraine from allied nations, and the possibility of a tri-lateral discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at approaching a peace agreement.
"The Alaska summit reinforced my belief that while difficult pieces within reach, and I believe that in a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we're going to be considering that at the table," President Trump said.
"We're going to try and get a a three party meeting maybe as soon as we can. And I have a feeling [President Zelenskyy] and President Putin are going to work something out. Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine working also together in agreement with President Putin."
Zelenskyy also acknowledged the possibility of tri-lateral talks between himself, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We will speak more about security guarantees. This is very important that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees. The second point, or maybe the first humanitarian direction, very important to exchange all the prisoners," Zelenskyy said in opening remarks.
"All the sensitive things, territorial and etcetera, we we will discuss on the level of leaders during a trilateral meeting, and President Trump will try to organize such meeting."
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Prior to arriving at the White House, Zelenskyy met with the European leaders to "coordinate" their positions.
"One of the key issues in the negotiations with President Trump will be the joint participation of the United States and Europe in creating the future security architecture for Ukraine and, consequently, for the entire European continent," Zelenskyy's office said in a statement.
Those security guarantees could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO.
President Trump outlined a "NATO-like" arrangement in which countries would work together to ensure security for Ukraine.
Most details of such an arrangement are expected to be a focus of Monday's talks between leaders. President Trump said he would discuss the possibility of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.
Monday's meeting comes just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That meeting ended abruptly — with no peace deal and neither leader taking questions from reporters.
Trump said he would call Putin after his meeting with Zelenskyy and the other European leaders.
WATCH: Scripps News International Correspondent explains what's at stake in the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
