Zelensky to travel to Washington on Monday for talks with Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will travel to Washington on Monday for talks with Donald Trump, after the US president’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin failed to bring an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

“On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, DC, to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation,” Zelensky says on X.

He says he spoke to Trump on Saturday in a call that lasted for more than an hour and a half, and that they were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials. Zelensky has repeatedly said that a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022.

Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks with Putin were successful.

“Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this,” Zelenskiy says on X.

We had a long and substantive conversation with @POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump.

Ukraine reaffirms… pic.twitter.com/64IPVhtFaB

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2025

The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly underlined the importance of security guarantees for Kyiv as part of any deal, to deter Russia from launching a new invasion at some point in the future.

“We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security,” Zelenskiy says.