August 18, 2025

President Donald Trump said Monday following a remarkable day of shuttle diplomacy that arrangements were beginning for a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine that, if successful, could be a substantial move toward ending the conflict between the two countries.

After cordial, seemingly constructive meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seven other European leaders at the White House that focused on how to guarantee Ukraine’s future security, Trump telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to arrange a summit between the two leaders, whose countries have been at war since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

With Zelenskyy and the European leaders still at the White House and preparing to continue talks over a light dinner, Trump announced on social media that a bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin would be followed by a trilateral meeting that he would also attend. “This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” he wrote.

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