President Donald Trump didn’t rule out using U.S. troops to help achieve peace in Ukraine, telling reporters Monday that he could make an announcement later today.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump in the Oval Office several months after a tense meeting in February and three days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The president said America will “help them out” when asked about security guarantees and whether U.S. troops could be on the ground in Ukraine.(RELATED: White House Reportedly Asks If Zelenskyy Would Wear A Suit For Meeting)
“We’ll let you know that maybe later today, we’re meeting with seven great leaders, great countries also, and we’ll be talking about that. They’ll all be involved, but there’ll be a lot of help when it comes to security,” Trump told reporters.
“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,” he added.
At the White House, Zelenskyy is joined by many European leaders, who are meeting to discuss terms for a peace settlement in the war. Ahead of the meeting, Trump told Zelenskyy to give up on Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and retaking the Crimean Peninsula.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote on Truth Social ahead of the meeting. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is hosting President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and later an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump met with Putin on Friday in Alaska to discuss an end to the war. The world leaders gave remarks after their meeting but did not take any questions.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said on Friday.
