A meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to end the conflict in Ukraine is in preparation, Donald Trump said Monday, after hosting the Ukrainian president and several European heads of state at the White House. While the location of this meeting remains to be determined, it could take place within the next two weeks, according to the German chancellor.

Donald Trump will "begin preparations" for a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, who had previously rejected such a meeting, after a "very good" meeting on Monday, August 18, with the Ukrainian president and several European leaders .

The Russian president agreed on the upcoming meeting, which is expected to take place within the next two weeks, during a telephone conversation with his American counterpart, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of the European officials invited to the White House.

"We are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin, and after that we expect a trilateral meeting" with the participation of Donald Trump, the Ukrainian head of state told the press. The possible territorial concessions demanded by Russia from Ukraine are "a question that we will leave between me and Putin," he added.

"The idea was discussed that it would be necessary to study the possibility of raising the representation of Ukraine and Russia to a higher level," said Russian President Yuri Ushakov's diplomatic adviser, quoted by the Tass agency.

Donald Trump stated on his Truth Social network that the meeting, at a location yet to be determined, would be followed by a three-way meeting with himself, aimed at ending three and a half years of conflict, triggered by the Russian invasion.

On Monday, the US president and his guests "discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, guarantees that would be provided by various European countries, in coordination with the United States of America," according to the US president. Moscow rejects any security guarantees through NATO and its collective defense mechanism, the famous Article 5.

Your cordial to the White House

"I think we had a very good conversation with President Trump, it was really the best," the Ukrainian head of state said earlier this afternoon. He later added that kyiv had offered to supply US weapons for $90 billion, with the Financial Times reporting a budget of $100 billion financed by the Europeans.

Before an expanded meeting with European leaders, the two men held a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, where they answered a few questions from journalists in a cordial tone, in stark contrast to the public humiliation suffered by Volodymyr Zelensky in the same place at the end of February.

"Thank you for the invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, your personal efforts to stop the killing and stop this war," said the Ukrainian president, who was criticized for his ingratitude the last time.

The Ukrainian president wore a black suit jacket and shirt, which earned him compliments from Donald Trump, who is attentive to signs of protocol. Zelensky had been criticized by Trump supporters in February for his military-inspired outfit, which he deemed too casual.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, for his part, said Ukraine should not be forced to make territorial concessions as part of a possible peace agreement. "The Russian demand that kyiv give up the free parts of Donbass corresponds, frankly, to a proposal that the United States give up Florida," he said.

"He wants to make a deal for me."

French President Emmanuel Macron called for "increasing sanctions" against Russia if future talks failed, and said that the arguably most difficult issue, that of possible territorial concessions, had not been addressed on Monday.

Donald Trump reiterated Monday that he believed there was no need for a ceasefire before a final peace agreement, as the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II continues, with Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks.

Before talks with the Europeans began, the American president told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in an exchange apparently recorded without his knowledge, referring to Vladimir Putin: "I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as that sounds."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Friedrich Merz, and Emmanuel Macron rallied around Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday in an unprecedented show of diplomatic solidarity.