President Donald Trump says the US will ensure any Ukraine-Russia peace deal 'works' as he meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Zelensky and European leaders are holding Ukraine talks with Donald Trump at the White House.
Trump says the US will be involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace deal.
European countries are "the first line of defence because they are there... we're going to help them out also. We'll be involved," he said from the Oval Office.
A ceasefire is not needed to negotiate ending the conflict, he adds, which The BBC reporter says "is music to Vladimir Putin's ears" after their Alaska summit on Friday.
He said Russia's Vladimir Putin is expecting his call after the talks.
Zelensky echoes his support for a meeting with the US and Russia and says Ukrainians support Trump's plans to end the war in a "diplomatic way."
Trump said he "just spoke" to Putin "indirectly" and they will have a phone call "right after" his meetings today.
And they may or may not have a trilateral meeting, he says, adding if they don't, then the fighting continues, and if they d,o they have a "good chance of maybe ending it".
"He's expecting my call when we're finished with this meeting," Trump says.
One of Trump’s key remarks at his press conference — sure to be welcomed in the Kremlin — concerned a ceasefire in Ukraine.
For months, Trump had demanded an immediate halt to fighting and threatened Russia with sanctions if it did not comply.
But after the Alaska summit, he unexpectedly said he no longer expects Moscow to agree to a ceasefire. Today he explained why.
“Strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side,” Trump said.
That is music to Vladimir Putin’s ears. The Russian leader has long insisted that only a comprehensive peace settlement on Moscow’s terms should come first, with a ceasefire to follow.
It appears Putin may have convinced Washington that this is the quickest path to the end of the war Trump so urgently desires.
The question now is how far the US is prepared to go to persuade Volodymyr Zelensky to accept that vision.
Trump says the European leaders waiting in another room of the White House want to help end the war, and Trump wants to aid them in making a deal.
A reporter asked him what his message is to the Ukrainian people, and Trump said they're "great people" who love their country.
"I love the Russian people as well," Trump said, emphasising that he wants to end the war.
As crucial talks begin between the Ukrainian and US presidents, air raid alarms sound across parts of Ukraine.
The country's air force has issued a warning that there is a threat of Russia using ballistic missiles right now.
Not a rare occurrence by any means in Ukraine, but this time around the timing highlights the importance of happening on the other side of the globe, in Washington.
