Mallory Wilson | August 16, 2025
(The Washington Times) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to the White House on Monday to meet with President Trump to discuss a potential peace deal.
Mr. Trump arrived back in Washington early Saturday morning from the summit in Alaska, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
The president called the summit “great and successful” and said he spoke with Mr. Zelenskyy and other European leaders after it was over.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he wrote on social media early Saturday.
He said if “all works out” in his Monday meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy, another meeting will then be scheduled with Mr. Putin.
No agreement came from the summit in Alaska on Friday.
European leaders said they “welcomed President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia’s war of aggression and achieve just and lasting peace.”
“As President Trump said, ‘there’s no deal until there’s a deal’. As envisioned by President Trump, the next step must now be further talks, including President Zelenskyy, whom he will meet soon,” the joint statement by the leaders said. “We are also ready to work with President Trump and President Zelenskyy towards a trilateral summit with European support.”
They maintained that Ukraine “must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Mr. Zelenskyy said his call with Mr. Trump was “long and substantive” and that they will discuss all of the details on Monday.
The visit will be the first to the White House since the heated meeting in February, where the Ukrainian leader was accused of not showing gratitude for the billions the U.S. has spent on aid.
After the summit, the two leaders held a joint press conference where they said the meeting was productive but offered no specifics about the hours-long conversation. No documents were signed, and no questions were taken from the press.
Mr. Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity after the summit that he is not thinking about the “severe consequences” he had originally threatened on Russia if the meeting turned out to be a nothingburger.
“Well, because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now,” Mr. Trump said.
“I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well.”
