VIDEO: Highlights from Trump’s meeting with European leaders, Russia reacts

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President Donald Trump’s White House meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and 7 other European leaders concluded Monday afternoon, after the leaders spent several hours in discussions over the best solution to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

In addition to Zelenskyy, those attending the historic meeting were German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Zelenskyy was a much different man from his last visit to the White House in February, when he arrived in casual clothes, was rude to Trump and VP JD Vance, and was kicked out by the president.

On Monday, Zelenskyy arrived in a black suit, and with a respectful demeanor. Trump complimented him, saying, “I can’t believe it… I love it… look at you!”

A reporter yelled out, asking Trump if he has a message for the Ukrainian people?

“We love them,” Trump replied.

The entire group of leaders first came out and posed for a rare photo before reporters.

Fox News reporter John Roberts wrote on X, “I covered the White House for more than a decade, and never witnessed a meeting like this.”

During the photo session, someone noticed the large, iconic portrait of Trump hanging on the wall of the day he was shot at the rally in Butler, PA.

“That was not a good day,” Trump quipped.

As the leaders settled around a conference table, President Trump allowed the media to stay in the room for their opening remarks, then they continued their discussions privately.

“All of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace… President Zelensky and President Putin can talk a little bit more about that… But I believe a peace agreement at the end of all of this is something that’s very attainable…,” Trump said.

At one point, Finnish President Alex Stubb remarked, “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.”

The NATO Secretary General said, “I really want to thank you, President of the United States, dear Donald, for the fact that you, as I said before, broke the deadlock basically with President Putin by starting the dialogue … From there, here we are today.”

The German Chancellor also commended President Trump, saying, “The path is open. You opened it last Friday — but now the way is open for complicated negotiations.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, “It is an important day — a new phase — after three years that we didn’t see any kind of sign from the Russian side that they were willing for dialogue, so something is changing — something has changed — thanks to you.”

UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer told Trump, “I think today will be seen as a very important day in recent years in relation to a conflict which has gone on for three and a bit years, and so far nobody has been able to bring it to this point — so I thank you for that.”

WATCH BELOW as each one gives their opening remarks:

Monday evening, President Trump posted the following statement on Truth Social:

I had a very good meeting with distinguished guests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, in the White House, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office.

During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.

At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.

Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Russia rejects NATO-style security guarantee for Ukraine
From Fox News: The Russian Foreign Ministry roundly rejected the idea of NATO forces serving as peacekeepers in Ukraine, a provision sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies in U.S.-brokered peace talks.

“We confirm the position that has been voiced more than once about our categorical rejection of any scenarios involving the appearance of Ukraine military contingent with the participation of NATO countries (which is fraught with an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences),” a foreign ministry statement reported by Russian state media outlet Ria read.

President Donald Trump already suggested a European-led peacekeeping force to ensure Russia does not invade Ukraine again would be a part of peace talks. Asked if U.S. would contribute forces, Trump said: “[Europe is] first line of defense, because they’re there, they’re Europe, but we’re going to help them out also, we’ll be involved.”

Trump assistant Dan Scavino shared the following photo:

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