--- title: Trump Strikes Friendlier Tone with Zelensky, EU Leaders description: Trump welcomed Ukraine's President to the Oval Office, striking a more conciliatory tone and not ruling out sending US troops to Ukraine. canonical: https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-18T16:06:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-08-18T22:22:19.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Strikes Friendlier Tone with Zelensky, EU Leaders og:description: Ukraine's President will be joined at the White House by an extraordinary delegation of European leaders og:url: https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bed66bae95bee73/6998c90e66d4e322a1cbcbce/GettyImages-2230147808.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Strikes Friendlier Tone with Zelensky, EU Leaders twitter:description: Ukraine's President will be joined at the White House by an extraordinary delegation of European leaders twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bed66bae95bee73/6998c90e66d4e322a1cbcbce/GettyImages-2230147808.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Pledges 'Lot of Help' to Ukraine in White House Meeting With Zelensky and EU Leaders > Sponsored content. 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President Donald Trump welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to the Oval Office on Monday, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone than during their televised confrontation six months ago and not ruling out the possibility of U.S. troops helping defend Ukraine if a three-way meeting with Zelensky, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't come together soon. “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues," Trump said, with Zelensky by his side, adding, "I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it.”_  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Aug 18, 2025 10:22 PM UTCPublished: Aug 18, 2025 4:06 PM UTC President Donald Trump welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to the Oval Office on Monday, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone than during their televised confrontation six months ago and not ruling out the possibility of U.S. troops helping defend Ukraine if a three-way meeting with Zelensky, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't come together soon. “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues," Trump said, with Zelensky by his side, adding, "I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it.”  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Aug 18, 2025 10:22 PM UTCPublished: Aug 18, 2025 4:06 PM UTC President Donald Trump told President [Volodymyr Zelensky](https://time.com/7270880/zelensky-trump-putin-ukraine-endgame-interview/) of Ukraine on Monday that the United States would join Europe in providing security guarantees to Kyiv as part of a broader peace deal with Russia, the clearest signal yet that the White House is prepared to underwrite Ukraine’s long-term defense while pressing for negotiations with Moscow. The statement of support from Trump came during a hastily arranged and unusual White House meeting attended by Zelensky and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, as European officials worked to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine they feared was [teetering](https://time.com/7310117/putin-talks-trump-ukraine-takeaways/). “When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said as he sat beside Zelensky in the Oval Office, noting that Europe would be involved. “They are a first line of defense because they’re there, but we’ll help them out. I think very good things are going to come of it.” The leaders were still at the White House late Monday evening meeting with Trump, who [posted](http://The leaders were still at the White House late Monday evening meeting with Trump, who praised the meeting in a post on his social media site, Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine. At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy.) on his social media site, "Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine," and added that he had called Russian President Vladimir Putin "at the conclusion of the meetings" to discuss arrangements for future peace talks. Monday's gathering came just three days after Trump hosted Putin in [Alaska](https://time.com/7309902/trump-putin-meeting-ultimatum-ceasefire-talks/), a summit that alarmed European leaders as they watched the U.S. achieve little diplomatically while rolling out a red-carpet reception for a leader under indictment by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Trump has since said repeatedly that Putin “wants to find an answer,” and has urged Ukraine to accept concessions that could include ceding land seized by Russia. “If everything works out today, we’ll have a tri-lat,” Trump said on Monday, using shorthand for a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelensky. “Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine, working also in agreement with President Putin.” Trump’s reassuring tone to Zelensky marked a striking shift from the two leaders’ last [Oval Office encounter](https://time.com/7262883/trump-zelensky-meeting/) in February, when Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance abruptly cut off discussions and chastised the Ukrainian leader for failing to show sufficient gratitude for American military aid. On Monday, by contrast, Trump greeted Zelensky warmly outside the West Wing, admiring his formal [black suit](https://app.slack.com/client/E029KR1G0KY/CDUQ2JP2T#:~:text=Zelensky%20Suits%20Up%20in%20a%20Gesture%20to%20Trump)—a shift from the olive green T-shirt uniform he's worn since the war began—and putting a hand on his back before leading him inside. Zelensky, who presented a [letter](https://time.com/7310426/zelensky-olena-zelenska-letter-melania-trump-meeting/) from his wife to First Lady Melania Trump during the session, described their one-on-one conversation as “very good” and said the U.S. signal on security guarantees was critical. “This is very important, that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees,” Zelensky said. “We spoke about very sensitive points.” After the bilateral session, Trump and Zelensky were joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister [Giorgia Meloni](https://time.com/7304882/giorgia-meloni-interview/), Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President [Ursula von der Leyen](https://time.com/6185490/ursula-von-der-leyen-interview/), and Secretary-General of NATO [Mark Rutte](https://time.com/7295448/rutte-nato-secretary-general-interview/) for more extensive talks. The group of European leaders were notably excluded last week from Trump’s summit with Putin—prompting several of them to quickly arrange to visit the White House at the last minute to present to Trump a united front against Russia. Rutte, NATO’s Secretary-General, hailed Trump’s willingness to consider “[Article 5](https://time.com/6151115/nato-russia-ukraine-article-4/)\-like” protections for Ukraine as a breakthrough in ending the war. Such protections for Ukraine would be similar to what is granted to NATO countries, whereby an attack on one member nation is considered an attack on all, even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO. “The fact that you have said ‘I am willing to participate in the security guarantees’ is a big step, it’s really a breakthrough, and it makes all the difference,” Rutte said. But several leaders also pushed back on Trump’s latest position that a ceasefire was no longer needed or a prerequisite for negotiating peace with Russia—a stance that mirrors Putin’s preference. “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” Merz, of Germany said to Trump and other European leaders. “So let’s work on that and let’s try to put pressure on Russia.” Macron also suggested that any lasting arrangement would require broader European participation. “I think as a follow-up, we would need probably a quadrilateral meeting,” he said, hinting that a European leader should join a potential Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit. Trump said he planned to phone the Russian leader after his meetings with Zelensky and European leaders, and would raise the trilateral proposal directly. “He’s expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting,” Trump said. On a [hot mic](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lwp2yw34p62f) ahead of the multilateral meeting, Trump was heard saying of Putin: “I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds.” Despite the optimistic statements made Monday, the prospects of ending Russia’s invasion in Ukraine remain just as blurry as they did in the aftermath of Friday’s Trump-Putin in Alaska. It’s unclear if Ukraine will agree to concessions floated by Trump and Putin, or if Trump’s vague U.S. security guarantees are enoughto convince Ukraine to acquiesce to demands made by Russia. Trump has made clear that he expects Ukraine to forego ambitions of joining NATO and to accept that Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, will not be returned. He has also spoken of “possible exchanges of territory” in the Donbas region, asserting that Zelensky could end the war "almost immediately" by agreeing to these terms, framing Ukraine as having the primary responsibility to resolve the conflict initiated by Russia’s 2022 invasion. The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly rejected calls to cede land, calling it a recipe for future attacks. The Trump Administration has said that Putin has indicated a willingness to accept U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, though Russia issued a statement on Monday rejecting the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine as part of any security guarantees, raising further questions about what Trump and Putin discussed during the Alaska summit. Just hours before Zelensky’s meeting with Trump, Russian strikes on the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia killed at least 10 people, including a child, and injured dozens of others, according to Ukrainian authorities. Zelensky has called the timing of the strikes an attempt by Putin to put pressure on Ukraine to accept its terms. In a striking departure from his past rhetoric, Trump on Monday did not immediately rule out sending American troops to Ukraine to help enforce peace—a potential shift for a President who has long campaigned on promises to keep U.S. troops out of foreign wars. Despite his sometimes skeptical tone about Ukraine’s war effort, he insisted American support was not about to end. “I can never say that. It’s never the end of the road,” he said when asked by a reporter if today’s meeting amounted to a “deal or no deal” moment for U.S. assistance. “People are being killed and we want to stop that. So, I would not say it’s the end of the road.” ## Transcript [00:00] Well, thank you very much. [00:01] It's an honor to have the president of Ukraine with us. [00:05] We've had a lot of good discussions with a lot of good talks, [00:09] and I think progress is being made very, [00:11] very substantial progress in many ways. [00:14] We had a good meeting, as you know, [00:16] just a short while ago with the president of Russia. [00:20] And I think there's a possibility that something could come out of it. [00:24] And today's meeting is very important. [00:26] We have, I guess, [00:27] the seven, seven very powerful leaders from Europe. [00:31] And we're going to be meeting with them right after this meeting. [00:34] And thank you very much for being here. [00:37] Thank you so much, Mr. President. [00:39] If I can, first of all, [00:40] thank you for the invitation. [00:42] And thank you very much for your efforts, [00:45] personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. [00:48] Thank you. And using this opportunity. [00:51] Many thanks to your wife, [00:52] first lady of the United States. [00:54] She sent a letter to Putin about our children. [00:58] Abducted children and my wife. [01:02] She first lady of Ukraine. [01:05] She gave the letter. [01:06] It's not to you. To your wife. [01:08] I want. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a sensitive topic? [01:14] Yes, please. And thanks to all our partners. [01:16] And that you supported this format, [01:18] that after our meeting, [01:19] we can have leaders who are around us in the UK and France, Germany, Italy, [01:25] Finland, EU, I mean, all, [01:27] all partners around Ukraine supporting us. [01:31] Thanks to them. Thank you very much for the invitation. [01:35] Thank you very much for being here. [01:37] First of all, you know we live under each day attacks. [01:40] You know that there have been a lot of attacks and a lot of wounded people. [01:44] And the child who was that small 111 year and a half. [01:50] So we need to stop this war to stop Russia. [01:53] And we need support American and European partners, [01:57] and we will do our best for this. [02:00] So and I think we we show that we are strong people. [02:04] And we supported the idea of the United States, [02:07] of personally of President Trump to stop this war [02:11] to make diplomatic way of finishing this war, [02:15] and we are ready for trilateral. [02:18] As president said, this is a good signal, [02:19] but I think this is very good. Thank you. [02:23] We're going to have a meeting. I think if everything works out well. [02:26] Today we'll have a trilateral, [02:27] and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that. [02:31] And is this the end of the road for American support for Ukraine? [02:36] Is today's meeting deal or no deal? [02:40] I can never say that. [02:42] It's never the end of the road. [02:43] People are being killed and we want to stop that. [02:45] So I would not say it's the end of the road. [02:47] No, I think we have a good chance of doing it. [02:50] It's been almost four years now that a lot of people were killed last week, [02:55] a lot of people last week. [02:56] I mean, millions of people killed. [02:58] But a lot of people last week, [02:59] for whatever reason, a big number, [03:02] a lot of soldiers, [03:03] both on both sides. [03:04] And I know the president, [03:07] I know myself, and I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended. [03:11] You look fabulous in that suit. [03:12] I said the same thing. [03:14] Yeah. Look, you look good. I said the same thing. Yeah. Looks good. [03:17] That's the one that attacked you last time. [03:19] See, now I remember. [03:20] I apologize to you. [03:21] You look wonderful. No. My first question for you. [03:24] President Zelensky in the same suit. [03:28] You see, I changed. You are. [03:30] Not. Maybe yours is much better. Real quickly. [03:34] Upon peace. God willing, we get peace. [03:36] Are you open to holding an election in your country? [03:39] Yes, of course we are open for election. [03:41] Yes. We have to do safety circumstances and a little bit. [03:47] We need to work in the Parliament because during the war you can't have elections. [03:51] But we can. We can do security. [03:55] We need maybe how to say we need a truce. [03:58] Yes. Everywhere in the battlefield, [04:00] in the sky and the sea. [04:01] Yeah. To make it possible for people to to to do democratic, [04:06] open, legal, legal elections. [04:09] So you say. [04:10] During. [04:11] During the war you can't have elections. [04:13] So let me just say three and a half years from now. [04:16] So you mean if we happen to be in a war with somebody. [04:20] No more elections. Oh. [04:23] That's good. [04:23] I wonder what the. I wonder what the. [04:25] You like this idea? [04:26] I don't think you need a ceasefire. [04:28] You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. [04:32] I didn't do any ceasefires. [04:34] And I know that it might be good to have, [04:37] but I can also understand strategically why. [04:41] Well, you know, one country or the other wouldn't want it. [04:43] You have a ceasefire, [04:45] and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild. [04:47] And, you know, maybe they don't want that. [04:49] But if you look at the six deals that we made, [04:51] peace and, you know, [04:52] long term, long running wars, [04:55] I didn't do any ceasefires. [04:57] Would I like I like the concept. [05:00] You know, I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, [05:03] because you'd stop killing people immediately as [05:05] opposed to in two weeks or one week or whatever it takes. [05:08] But we can work a deal where we're working on a peace deal while they're fighting. [05:12] They have to fight. I wish they could stop. [05:14] I'd like them to stop. [05:15] But strategically, that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other. [05:19] But all of these deals I made without even the mention of the words ceasefire. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/"},"headline":"Trump Pledges 'Lot of Help' to Ukraine in White House Meeting With Zelensky and EU Leaders","datePublished":"2025-08-18T16:06:13.000Z","dateModified":"2025-08-18T22:22:19.000Z","description":"Trump didn't rule out the possibility of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine","url":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/","keywords":["Ukraine","Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bed66bae95bee73/6998c90e66d4e322a1cbcbce/GettyImages-2230147808.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bed66bae95bee73/6998c90e66d4e322a1cbcbce/GettyImages-2230147808.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY","caption":"TOPSHOT-US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY","creditText":"Andrew Caballero—Reynolds —AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ukraine/","name":"Ukraine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/","name":"Trump Pledges 'Lot of Help' to Ukraine in White House Meeting With Zelensky and EU Leaders"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Strikes Friendlier Tone With Zelensky at White House","description":"President Donald Trump welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to the Oval Office on Monday, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone than during their televised confrontation six months ago and not ruling out the possibility of U.S. troops helping defend Ukraine if a three-way meeting with Zelensky, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't come together soon. “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues,\" Trump said, with Zelensky by his side, adding, \"I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it.”","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aD4SrFoR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-08-18T20:03:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aD4SrFoR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/","duration":"PT5M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```