Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said talks at the White House between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky could be a “historic step” towards security for Ukraine.
US President Mr Trump said the United States would help Europe in providing security for the war-torn nation as part of any deal to end its war with Russia as he began crunch talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.
European leaders had travelled to Washington to stand side by side with Ukraine and push for further protection if an agreement can be reached and the deadliest war on the continent in 80 years is brought to an end.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky smiled and shook hands at the White House ahead of the private meeting, six months since the pair publicly clashed during the Ukrainian President’s last visit.
The pair appeared to share a joke about Mr Zelensky’s more formal choice of attire this time round, after his military fatigue-style outfit played a part in an extraordinary public dressing-down from Mr Trump and his Vice President JD Vance in February.
Although Mr Trump said it was an honour to have Mr Zelensky return to the White House he also suggested to reporters that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help," Mr Trump said, adding that European countries would be involved. "They are a first line of defence because they're there, but we'll help them out."
The two presidents took questions from the media in the Oval Office before meeting in private. This time, the meeting appeared far more convivial, despite the US president's movement toward Russia in recent days following his summit in Alaska with Putin.
Zelensky struck a deferential tone, expressing gratitude more than once for the support of the United States.
Zelensky was also backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, as European leaders travelled to Washington to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and to push for strong security guarantees for the country if a post-war settlement is reached.
Following their one-on-one discussion, MrTrump and Mr Zelensky made a joint appearance with the leaders ahead of planned multilateral talks.
Once other world leaders joined the discussions, Sir Keir told Mr Trump: “Your indication of security guarantees, of some sort of article five-style guarantees, fits with what we’ve been doing with the coalition of the willing which we started some months ago, bringing countries together and showing that we were prepared to step up to the plate when it came to security.
“With you coming alongside, the US alongside, what we’ve already developed, I think we could take a really important step forward today – a historic step, actually, could come out of this meeting in terms of security for Ukraine and security in Europe.”
Zelensky described the one-on-one discussion as "very good" and said they had spoken about the importance of US security guarantees for Ukraine.
"This is very important, that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees," Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Trump said he and Mr Zelensky had covered "a lot of territory" during their discussion. He also again proposed a three-way summit among Putin, Mr Zelensky and himself aimed at reaching a peace deal, which Mr Zelensky said he would support.
Putin has not publicly committed to such a meeting, though Mr Trump said repeatedly that he believes Putin wants to end the war. Mr Trump said he had spoken to Putin on Monday and would call him after the talks as well.
The idea was backed by Sir Keir, who described potential trilateral talks as a “sensible next step” amid multilateral efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.
Mr Trump is pressing for a quick end to Europe's deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia's terms after the president on Friday in Alaska rolled out the red carpet - literally - for Putin, who faces charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.
Mr Trump said in the Oval Office that he liked the concept of a ceasefire, but they could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued.
"I wish they could stop, I'd like them to stop," he said. "But strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other."
During the later appearance, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pushed back on that suggestion.
"I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire," Mr Merz said. "So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia."
Russian attacks overnight on Ukrainian cities killed at least 10 people, in what Mr Zelensky called a "cynical" effort to undermine talks.
Mr Trump has rejected accusations that the Alaska summit had been a win for Putin, who has faced diplomatic isolation since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"I know exactly what I'm doing, and I don't need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them," Trump wrote on social media.
Mr Trump's team has said there will have to be compromises on both sides to end the conflict. But the president himself has put the burden on Mr Zelensky, saying Ukraine should give up hopes of getting back Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or of joining the NATO military alliance.
Mr Zelensky has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals from the Alaska meeting. Those include handing over the remaining quarter of its eastern Donetsk region, which is largely controlled by Russia.
Any concession of Ukrainian territory would have to be approved by a referendum.
