US President Donald Trump warned on Monday of “major consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky do not meet to end the conflict between their countries. Trump said in statements at the White House that it is appropriate for Putin and Zelensky to meet, adding that the timing of the meeting is up to them. He expressed his wish that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents resolve their differences first before he joins them in a possible trilateral meeting. Trump described the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine since late February 2022 as the toughest of the seven wars he claimed to have stopped since taking office in early 2025, but said he would end it nonetheless. Trump met Putin 10 days ago in Alaska in an effort to push for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, but the summit did not yield a breakthrough.

He expressed optimism about holding a trilateral summit with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents and the possibility of reaching an agreement soon, but four days after the Alaska meeting he expressed frustration after Moscow announced that Putin would not meet Zelensky until the Ukrainians agree to some of Russia’s old demands to end the conflict. In his White House remarks today, the US president said he spoke with Putin after meeting with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House last week. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president said today he discussed with US special envoy Keith Kellogg applying pressure on Russia to push it to hold genuine talks to end the war.

There are no signs yet of a quick success in US efforts to push Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting and start comprehensive peace talks, while battles continue along the Ukrainian front stretching from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south to Sumy and Kharkiv in the northeast, passing through Donetsk province in the east.