By R Anil Kumar
Washington DC, August 18, 2025. Talks yielded “real progress” on security guarantees, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was “real progress” made during the high-level meetings at the White House, saying they yielded material outcomes on security guarantees.
“The meeting was good and constructive and there was a real sense of unity between the European leaders that were there and President (Donald) Trump and President (Volodymyr) Zelensky,” Starmer said.
One of the key outcomes was an agreement for the 30 countries dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” to work on security guarantees for Ukraine and begin coordinated efforts with the US.
“That’s really important for security in Ukraine, for security in Europe, and for security in the United Kingdom,” Starmer said.
The second development was an agreement to pursue a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump took a break from his meeting with the European delegationto phone Putin and propose the direct meeting with Zelensky, and a potential trilateral meeting also involving Trump to follow later.
“And that is a recognition of the principle that on some of these issues, whether it’s territory or the exchange of prisoners, or the very serious issue of the return of the children. That is something where Ukraine must be at the table,” Starmer said.
“There was real sense of unity. We made real progress today,” Starmer said.
France-US commitment for Ukrainian security guarantees was the most important outcome from today’s talks, Macron says.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the most significant outcome of talks at the White House was the willingness of the US to work on the content of security guarantees for Ukraine.
“We have agreed on several important points that were not as clear a few days or weeks ago,” Macron said, adding that the “first and most important” was the US commitment to further develop the security plans.
“During the meet it was agreed that we will work with the United States of America on the content of these security guarantees and the cooperation that each party is prepared to provide,” Macron said.
Macron said the “Coalition of the Willing” that European leaders have been building since February has now grown to 30 countries, indicating widening and strengthened backing for Ukraine’s security.
Any talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should happen in a bilateral format first, before a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump, Macron said.
The French president added that those talks could only happen under a ceasefire, saying: “Call it a truce or a ceasefire, but we cannot hold discussions under bombs.”
Macron said he welcomed Trump’s belief in “his ability to reach an agreement” with Putin and wanted to believe that Putin wants a peace deal, but warned that if that fell through Europe needed to be prepared to increase sanctions on Russia to bring it back to the negotiating table.
Ukrainian security guarantees would include purchase of $90 billion of American weapons, Zelensky says.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the discussion with US President Donald Trump and European leaders at the White House on Monday included plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion in American weapons through European funding, as part of the country’s security guarantees.
He said that another part of the guarantees would involve Ukraine manufacturing drones, some of which would be purchased by the US.
Zelensky, who made his comments at a news conference following the White House meeting, noted that this remains under discussion and that no formal agreement has been reached.
The agreement will be formalized over the next week or 10 days, he said.
Zelensky says he had a long discussion with Trump over map showing Russian-occupied territories
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a long discussion with US President Donald Trump over a map displayed in the Oval Office showing Russian-captured territories in Ukraine.
“I argued about the percentage on the map because I know this percentage very well,” he said.
However, the two leaders engaged in a “warm and meaningful conversation” about it, Zelensky said.
“It isn’t possible to say this much territory has been taken over this time. These points are important,” he said.
Zelensky pushes for unconditional meeting with Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia proposed a bilateral meeting with Ukraine, followed by a trilateral meeting.
In a news conference following his meetings with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Zelensky said he is ready for “any format” of a meeting with Putin. He said that he would participate in the following trilateral meeting, depending on how the first meeting goes.
Zelensky said that he does not know the details about the proposed bilateral meeting.
Zelensky said that he does not want to impose conditions on the meeting because Putin would follow with his own conditions.
“I believe unconditionally we should meet and think about the further development of this path to the end of the war,” he said.
Leaders agreed that Trump should tell Putin what they had decided, Finnish president says
Western leaders agreed that President Donald Trump should tell President Vladimir Putin what they had decided during their meeting at the White House, Finnish President AlexanderStubb told the Media on Monday.
“It was coordinated,” he said of the decision to have Trump call Putin.
Stubb said one of their aims was to suggest a bilateral meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he said Putin agreed to.
He did not provide details on what Trump and Putin said in their call.
White House posts picture of Trump on phone with Putin
The White House posted a photo tonight of President Donald Trump on speaker phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin inside the Oval Office.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are in the frame, as well, sitting in chairs across from the Resolute Desk.
A translator, according to two White House officials, is also writing on a notepad across from Trump at the desk.
Trump spoke with Putin by phone in the Oval Office, then resumed meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders from there, according to a separate White House official.
Catch up on the latest as Trump, Zelensky and European leaders wrap up their meetings at White House
US President Donald Trump said he is working to arrange a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin following talks today at the White House on the war in Ukraine.
Trump wrote on social media he’d discussed the plan with Putin in a phone call during his negotiations with Zelensky and several European leaders.
Trump added that after a Putin-Zelensky summit, he would then join the two leaders for a trilateral meeting.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine have yet commented on Trump’s statement.
Here’s the latest:
Meeting with European leaders: After their initial meeting, discussions between Trump, Zelensky and other key European leaders continued in the Oval Office, after the US president called Putin, according to a White House official. While he was leaving, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they agreed to “quite a lot.”
- Call with Putin: One top Kremlin aide said Trump and Putin held a “candid and very constructive phone call” that lasted about 40 minutes. The Russian leader “expressed support for direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine,” said the aide, Yury Ushakov.
- Hot mic moment: Ahead of the multilateral meeting, Trump was caught on a hot mic saying that Putin wants to reach a resolution to the war for him. “I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.”
- Zelensky’s individual talks with Trump: Ukraine’s president said he had a “very good conversation” with Trump earlier in the day. They discussed security guarantees and humanitarian concerns, he said. The Ukrainian president also said he would be happy to have Trump at a trilateral meeting with him and Putin.
- Security guarantees: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine and his staff have been involved in working through potential security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of today’s meetings, according to a source familiar with the planning. European governments are also holding similar discussions, the source added.
Here are the key takeaways from the White House meetings today on ending the Ukraine war
Washington DC. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven other European leaders made a short-notice visit to the White House on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s Alaska summit on Friday, 15 August, with Russian President Vladimir Putinin Alaska.
There were meetings between Trump and Zelensky as well as a gathering that also involved the European leaders.
With a goal of finding a way to end the three-and-a-half year long war in Ukraine that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, here are the key takeaways from the meetings:
A potential trilateral meeting: Trump said on social media he has begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. After that bilateral meeting takes place, he said he will work on a trilateral meeting. The Ukrainian president, at a news conference, said he is ready for “any format” of a meeting with the Russian president.
Security guarantees: Zelensky said that today’s discussion included plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion in American weapons through European funding, as part of the country’s security guarantees.
Another part of the guarantees would involve Ukraine manufacturing drones, some of which would be purchased by the US. This remains under discussion and no formal agreement has been reached. The agreement will be formalized over the next week or 10 days, he said.
Redrawing Ukrainianboundaries: Zelensky said he had a long discussion with Trump over a map displayed in the Oval Office showing Russian-captured territories in Ukraine. However, redrawing of Ukrainian territory was not discussed, the NATO chief said, as leaders said they agreed this is a matter for Zelensky to discuss at a potential trilateral meeting involving Russia.
Call to Putin: Finnish President Alexander Stubb told that the European leaders “coordinated” the decision to have Trump call Putin to tell the Russian leader what was decided during the White House meeting.
(With Inputs from US Department of State)
