Key points
- Spoke to Trump one-to-one for “about an hour”: Zelensky
- Says Trump informed him about his meeting with the Russian leader
- America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation: Zelensky
ISLAMABAD: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he will travel to Washington on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump.
“Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace. President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion. It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation,” Zelensky said in a statement Saturday, according to CNN.
Zelensky’s announcement comes a day after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
“On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, DC, to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation,” Zelensky wrote on X.
We had a long and substantive conversation with @POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump.
Ukraine reaffirms… pic.twitter.com/64IPVhtFaB
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2025
US President Donald Trump, early Saturday, ruled out an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after his summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska and said a direct peace agreement would end the war.
“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trilateral meeting
Previously, Zelensky said he supports US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
The Ukrainian president added he spoke to Trump one-to-one for “about an hour” following the Alaska summit, and European leaders later joined the phone call, which lasted for more than an hour and a half in total.
“Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this,” Zelensky said.
“It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,” he added.
