Trump says he will arrange Putin, Zelensky meeting after speaking with both

US President Donald Trump started his summit in the White House with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, with both sides suggesting that a trilateral meeting that includes their Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, might be the next step in a flurry of recent diplomatic efforts to halt Moscow’s war against its neighbour.

In his third face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainian president in his second term, Trump also dangled the possibility of US troops supporting Ukraine.

He added that he would speak to Putin about the plan later on Monday and endorsed a plan for European countries to buy American weapons needed to ensure Ukraine’s security.

“If everything works out well today, we’ll have a [trilateral meeting with Putin], and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” Trump told reporters ahead of his official meeting with Zelensky.

“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,” he said. “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues.”

Putin is “expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting”, he added.