One by one, the European leaders arrived at the White House.
But the guests, from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to French President Emmanuel Macron, had to excuse themselves. It was not until Volodymyr Zelenskyj arrived that Trump showed up and welcomed his guest.
Inside the Oval Office, the two answered a few questions from the press corps in a friendly tone, but without giving direct news.
We must stop the war and we must stop Russia, said Zelenskyj.
I cannot say when the war will end, but it will end. The whole world is tired of it (the war), Trump replied.
Trump and Zelenskyj were to hold a joint meeting after the press conference, before Trump meets the other European leaders. The summit, with all the leaders, will take place at 21:00 Swedish time, three hours after the group arrived at the southern entrance of the White House.
Several of the European leaders had gathered at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington DC before the meeting.
Zelenskyj spent the morning in the US meeting with Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. On social media, he wrote: "Russia can only be forced to peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength".
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has been busy on Monday calling several world leaders and informing them about the talks with Trump in Alaska on Friday, according to the Kremlin. Putin has spoken with, among others, Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, South Africa's Cyri Ramaphosa and India's Narendra Modi.
Martin Yngve/TT
Grim Berglund/TT
Fact: Today's schedule
TT
The Ukraine talks in Washington today began at 18:00 Swedish time with European leaders, except for President Zelenskyj, arriving at the White House.
The leaders who will participate are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Zelenskyj arrived around 19:15 and was then received by Trump. They then held their own meeting, together with, among others, US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Ukraine's Andrij Jermak, who is the president's chief of staff, and Rustem Umerov, who heads Ukraine's national security and defense council.
At 20:15, according to the schedule, it is time for Trump to greet the other European leaders.
And at 21:00, everyone will gather, Trump, Zelenskyj, and the other European leaders will then hold a meeting in the East Room of the White House.
