United States President Donald Trump has dropped his ceasefire demands of Russia and Ukraine, adopting Vladimir Putin's preference for proceeding directly to a peace agreement during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A meeting between Trump and the Ukrainian President addressed crucial peace negotiations at the White House, which was joined by an extraordinary assembly of EU leaders in a show of support for Ukraine.
Takeouts included a notable change in tone from February's heated Oval Office confrontation, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated Zelenskyy on camera.
This time, Zelenskyy thanked Trump "for your efforts, personal efforts, to stop killings and stop this war," while the U.S. President called it an honour to host the Ukrainian leader.
The talks followed Trump's Friday summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which was unable to deliver a ceasefire despite earlier threats of "very severe consequences" if Russia didn't agree.
Trump has since dropped his ceasefire demands, adopting Putin's preference for proceeding directly to a peace agreement.
European leaders in attendance included British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
They openly challenged Trump on security guarantees for Ukraine, with Rutte calling Trump's commitment "a big step" and "really a breakthrough".
Trump discussed "possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact" - effectively the war zone - whilst Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine's security depends on U.S. and European allies.
After the discussions, Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social plans to arrange a direct Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, followed by a trilateral summit involving himself.
The Kremlin verified Trump contacted Putin after the White House talks, with both leaders expressing "support for the continuation of direct negotiations".
