US President Donald Trump said he just spoke to Putin indirectly, adding he will have a call with him later.
"I just spoke to President Putin indirectly, and we're going to have a phone call right after these meetings today, and we may or may not have a trilat."
Trump added Putin is "expecting my call when we're finished with this meeting."
A reporter asked Zelenskiy what security guarantees he needs from Trump.
"Everything," the Ukranian president said.
He mentioned training missions and intelligence sharing as key components needed to strengthen the Ukrainian army.
Asked if the U.S. will commit Americans to NATO-like protection to Ukraine, Trump said "I don't know if you'd define it that way, but NATO-like... We have people waiting in another room right now. 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 it."
Trump doesn't reject the idea of US troops in Ukraine
When asked if security guarantees for Ukraine could involve U.S. troops, Trump said:
“We'll let you know that maybe later today. We're meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also, and we'll be talking about that. They'll all be involved, but there'll be a lot of, there'll be a lot of help.
Asked about security guarantees, Trump said: "There'll be a lot of help when it comes to security. There's going to be a lot of help. It's going to be good. They are first line of defense because they're there. They're Europe. But we're going to help them out also. We'll be involved."
While U.S. officials have promised "Article 5" style security guarantees for Ukraine, it is unclear what that means.
Article 5 of the NATO treaty requires members to come to the aid of each other in cases of military threats.
Trump was asked whether he would send American peacekeepers to Ukraine.
"We're going to work with everyone and we're going to make sure ... that everything's good. We'll work with Russia. We're going to work with Ukraine. We're going to make sure it works," he said.
Trump and European leaders are now meeting privately
The public part of their meeting is over.
Trump suggested they could meet behind closed doors for some time, then said they would go back to the Oval Office.
He suggested the next few weeks could see some sort of resolution.
"I think that President Putin wants to find an answer too, and we'll see," he said.
"In a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we're going to know whether or not we're going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue."
What European leaders said
Leaders are seated around a large table, and are taking turns addressing Trump directly.
The format is similar to Trump's recent Cabinet meetings, where agency heads offer Trump praise and then bring up specific matters they want to highlight.
NATO'S MARK RUTTE:
"We have to stop the killing. We have to stop the destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure. This is a terrible war," Rutte said. He thanked Trump and said he "broke the deadlock."
EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S URSULA VON DER LEYEN:
"We are here to work together with you on a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, to stop the killing."
"Every single child has to go back to its family."
GERMANY'S FRIEDRICH MERZ:
"I can't imagine that the next meeting would took place without a ceasefire. So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia."
ITALY'S GIORGIA MELONI:
"We will talk about many important topics. The first one is security guarantees, how to be sure that it won't happen again, which is the precondition of every kind of peace."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke to reporters in Washington ahead of Zelenskiy and European leaders' meetings with Trump later Monday:
"Today, finally, there are openings for dialogue," she said.
She said the opening came because "there is a stalemate on the ground" that was "clearly built by the courage of the Ukrainians but also by the united support that the West has guaranteed."
"We must remember this because the unity of the West, from my point of view, is also the instrument we have to build peace and guarantee justice."
Meloni said Italy has proposed building security guarantees inspired by NATO's Article 5, which states an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all.
The U.S. has also promised Article 5-like protection to Ukraine in a peace deal without specifics
FRANCE'S EMMANUEL MACRON:
"We've worked very hard during the past few years to have a peace, which is a robust and long-standing peace. This is why the idea of a trilateral meeting is very important because this is the only way to fix it."
UK'S KEIR STARMER:
"We're talking about security, not just of Ukraine, we're talking about the security of Europe and the United Kingdom as well, which is why this is such an important issue."
FINLAND'S ALEXANDER STUBB"
"The fact that we're around this table today is very much symbolic, in the sense that it's Team Europe and Team United States helping Ukraine."
He said Finland shares a long border with Russia and had its own experience with the country during World War Two.
"We found a solution in 1944, and I'm sure that we'll be able to find a solution in 2025 to end Russia's war of aggression, find and get a lasting, just peace."
Ukraine's constitution does not allow Zelenskiy to hand land to Russia
Any changes to Ukraine's territory would have to be settled by an "All-Ukrainian referendum," according to Article 73 of the country's constitution.
The question can be put to a referendum by popular initiative if the signatures of three million eligible Ukrainian voters are gathered from at least two thirds of the country's regions, it says.
An opinion poll conducted in June showed that 68% of the Ukrainians questioned oppose the idea of officially recognizing "some parts" of occupied land as Russian, while 24% are open to this.
The same survey showed that 78% are against the idea of giving up on land that Kyiv's troops still control.
