Trump and Zelensky meeting: what time will it start, participants, news

The Presidents of the United States and Ukraine, Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, will meet at the White House on August 18. A delegation of European leaders, including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, also arrived in Washington. They are expected to discuss the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The talks will take place three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Alaska and meeting with Trump. What is known about the upcoming event is in the Izvestia article.

Who is participating in the meeting

• A delegation of European politicians arrived in Washington with Zelensky. It includes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. They are also accompanied by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

• Zelensky arrived in Washington on the evening of August 17th. According to media reports, the White House was interested in the form in which the president of Ukraine would come to a meeting with Trump. Zelensky plans to wear a black jacket instead of the usual green military uniform, in which he has already appeared at the NATO summit. At the same time, he will not wear a tie.

• It has not been officially announced which of the Ukrainian politicians is accompanying Zelensky and who will participate in the negotiations from the American side. U.S. Vice President Jay D. Vance is expected to attend the meeting.

• For Zelensky, this will be the fourth face-to-face meeting with Trump during his second term. In February, they met at the White House, but that visit was a failure due to an altercation involving Vance. The next time Trump and Zelensky met was at Pope Francis' funeral in the Vatican, and then they talked at the NATO summit in June.

When will the negotiations take place

• At 19:00 Moscow time, European leaders will begin arriving at the White House. At 20:00 Moscow time, Trump will meet Zelensky at his residence. In 15 minutes, they will hold bilateral talks, which are scheduled for one hour in the schedule of the US president.

• At 21:15 Moscow time, Trump is scheduled to have a short meeting with European leaders, followed by a joint "family photo." At 22:00 Moscow time, a multilateral meeting between Trump and Zelensky and politicians from Europe will be launched.

• After the talks, Zelensky will give an interview to Fox News anchor Bret Baier. It will be broadcast at 1:00 Moscow time on August 19.

Last statements before the meeting

• Before receiving the guests, Trump called the meeting a "big day at the White House." He noted that so many European leaders had never gathered here before, and called it an honor for America. As for the negotiations, he warned that Ukraine should agree to recognize Crimea as Russian and refuse to join NATO.

"The solution to the Ukrainian problem is in the hands of Russia and the United States"

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov — on the results of the meeting in Alaska, prospects for a peaceful settlement and Kiev's participation in NATO

In his last comment, Zelensky demanded security guarantees for Ukraine and asked for help from Western countries. At the same time, a source from the president's office said that Zelensky wants to get a settlement from Trump without withdrawing troops from Donbass and is ready to freeze the current front line for this.

• Starmer welcomed the readiness of the United States to provide Ukraine with the same security guarantees specified in Article 5 of the NATO Charter. This possibility was previously stated by Trump's special representative Steve Witkoff following the Alaska summit.

Recent events before the meeting

• On the day of the talks, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto blamed Ukraine for the attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline, after which oil supplies to the country from Russia stopped. He called it an "outrageous and unacceptable" blow to Hungary's energy security. According to him, Russian specialists are working on the restoration of the transformer station necessary for the operation of the pipeline.

• Putin held a telephone conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and shared with him the main results of recent talks with Trump. Ramaphosa expressed support for diplomatic efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.