US President Donald Trump says he is planning a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The US president said he would take part in a later trilateral meeting, after the meeting between Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Putin.
Mr Trump made the comments in a social media post after talks at the White House with Mr Zelenskyy and seven other European leaders, who travelled to Washington to discuss a possible peace deal for Ukraine.
"At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy," Mr Trump wrote.
"After that meeting takes place, we will have a trilat, which would be the two presidents, plus myself."
But several of the European leaders expressed scepticism about Mr Putin's commitment to the plan. Mr Putin has to date resisted meeting Mr Zelenskyy.
Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said it remained to be seen whether Mr Putin had the courage to meet Mr Zelenskyy.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders agreed the meeting would take place within two weeks, Reuters reported.
Russian state media reported that Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Mr Trump "briefed" Mr Putin on the meeting and the two leaders agreed to stay in close contact.
Mr Trump also said the leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, including "which guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America".
Earlier, Mr Trump said Europe would "take a lot of the burden" under the security guarantees.
But he said America would provide support, and he did not rule out American troops being involved.
'This war is going to end'
Before the talks, the US and Ukrainian presidents held a press conference that was much friendlier than their last one in February, which is remembered for Mr Trump and Vice-President JD Vance's public humiliation of Mr Zelenskyy.
"The war is going to end," Mr Trump said while seated alongside Mr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Monday, local time.
"This gentleman wants it to end and Vladimir Putin wants it to end. I think the whole world is tired of it, and we're going to get it ended."
European leaders who have cultivated good relations with Mr Trump also took part in the talks. The group comprised Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Finland's Alexander Stubb, NATO's Mark Rutte and the EU's Ursula von der Leyen.
Both Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy had said they were hopeful a three-way meeting with Mr Putin would also take place soon.
"I just spoke to President Putin indirectly," Mr Trump said before the meeting.
"We're going to have a phone call right after these meetings today, and we may or may not have a trilateral.
"I think if we have a trilateral, that there's a good chance of maybe ending [the war]."
Mr Trump reiterated his support for a long-term peace agreement, rather than an interim ceasefire, as the next necessary step. European leaders had been pushing for a ceasefire but Mr Trump abandoned that position and called for a full peace deal after Friday's meeting with Mr Putin in Alaska.
"We're not talking about a two-year peace and then we end up in this mess again," he said.
'NATO-like' security guarantees
Mr Zelenskyy at the weekend outlined a series of conditions necessary for a lasting peace agreement, including security guarantees for Ukraine from the US and Europe.
When asked before Monday's talks whether he wanted troops, intelligence or equipment to be part of security guarantees, Mr Zelenskyy responded: "Everything."
Mr Trump said Russia had agreed that security guarantees could be provided to Ukraine as part of a peace deal, confirming comments made by his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, at the weekend.
Mr Witkoff also said that could mean "Article 5-like protection" for Ukraine, a reference to the NATO clause that says an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all.
On Monday, Mr Trump was asked if he was willing to provide US troops as part of a "NATO-like" security guarantee.
"Well, I don't know if you define it that way," Mr Trump said.
"But NATO-like, I mean, we have people waiting in another room right now.
"They're all here from Europe, the biggest people in Europe, and they want to give protection. They feel very strongly about it, and we'll help them out with it."
Later, speaking in the meeting room with the European leaders present, Mr Trump said: "I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We're going to help them, and we're going to make it very secure.
"We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory."
