'We're going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security,' US president says of security guarantees for Ukraine
US President Donald Trump hosted his Ukrainian counterpart and European leaders Monday for highly anticipated talks aimed at reaching a unified position on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump and Zelenskyy signaled optimism in brief remarks before reporters as they prepared to head into hours of closed-door meetings. For his part, Trump signaled a willingness to provide Ukraine with US security guarantees as part of any prospective peace deal, saying the matter will be discussed during Monday's sit-down.
"We're going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security. That's part of it. And the people that are waiting for us, they are, I think they're very like-minded," Trump said, referring to the European leaders who earlier arrived at the White House.
"They're all here from Europe, biggest people in Europe, and they want to give protection. They feel very strongly about it, and we'll help them out with that. I think it's very important to get the deal done," he added.
Trump did not rule out sending US forces to Ukraine as part of a potential security guarantee, saying: "We'll let you know that, maybe later today."
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his "personal efforts" to end the Kremlin's war, and signaled an openness to taking part in a trilateral meeting with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We are ready for trilateral. As President (Trump) said, this is good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good," he said.
