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regular-article-logo Tuesday, 19 August 2025

Zelensky open to elections if war ends, signals support for trilateral talks with Trump and Putin

Zelensky arrived at the White House for talks with President Donald Trump and key European leaders as the US leader presses for a quick end to the brutal Russia-Ukraine war

Our Web Desk, Agencies Published 18.08.25, 11:33 PM
President Donald Trump, left, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington.

President Donald Trump, left, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. AP/PTI

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said he was open to holding an election in safe circumstances if the war with Russia comes to an end.

During a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Zelensky said, "We need to work in parliament because during the war you can't have elections," adding that it needed to be possible for people to have a democratic, open, legal election.

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Elections in Ukraine are currently suspended under martial law.

Zelensky arrived at the White House for talks with Trump and key European leaders as the US president pushes for a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Monday's hastily arranged meeting comes after Trump met on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has said that the onus is now on Zelenskyy to agree to concessions that could end the war.

Zelensky signalled he is open to having a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict. Trump said on Monday he would call Putin after his meeting with Zelensky and that it was possible the three leaders could hold a meeting.

Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that he had just spoken to Putin indirectly.

Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

The European leaders were left out of Trump's summit with Putin last Friday and aim to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Many arrived at the White House to protect Ukraine’s interests.

By coming as a group, they hope to avoid situations like Zelensky's February meeting in the Oval Office, where Trump chastised him for not showing enough gratitude for US military aid.

The meetings also test America’s relationship with its closest allies after the EU and UK accepted Trump’s tariff hikes partly to secure his support on Ukraine.

“We understand that we shouldn't expect Putin to voluntarily abandon aggression and new attempts at conquest,” Zelenskyy said in an X post before arriving at the White House.

“That is why pressure must work, and it must be joint pressure – from the United States and Europe, and from everyone in the world who respects the right to life and the international order.”

Ahead of the meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that escalated into the broader 2022 invasion.

"President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Trump wrote Sunday night on social media.

“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!!!”

Zelensky responded in his own post late Sunday, saying, “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.”

He added that “peace must be lasting,” not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago, and “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”

Trump's sitdown in Alaska with Putin produced possible contours for ending the war, though it was unclear whether the terms would be acceptable to Zelensky or Putin.

Zelensky said in a social media post he met with Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, on Monday ahead of his scheduled talks with Trump to discuss the battlefield situation and the shared “strong diplomatic capabilities” of the US, Ukraine and Europe.

He also held talks with European leaders at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.

On the table for discussion are possible NATO-like security guarantees Ukraine would need for any peace with Russia to last.

Putin opposes Ukraine joining NATO outright, yet Trump’s team claims the Russian leader is open to allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes under attack.

“Clearly there are no easy solutions when talking about ending a war and building peace,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni told reporters. “We have to explore all possible solutions to guarantee peace, to guarantee justice, and to guarantee security for our countries.”

European leaders aim to focus during the White House talks on finding a sustainable peace and believe a temporary ceasefire is not off the table, according to a European official.

The official said the leaders also want to keep pressure on Russia and get concrete assurances from the US about security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any deal.

Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin meeting. Details from the discussions emerged in a scattershot way that seemed to irritate Trump, who had chosen not to outline any terms when appearing afterward with Putin.

Ahead of Monday’s meetings, Trump wrote on social media that even if Russia said, “We give up, we concede, we surrender" the news media and Democrats “would say that this was a bad and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump.”

He also criticised the Wall Street Journal and other outlets, saying they “truly don't have a clue, tell me everything that I am doing wrong on the Russia/Ukraine MESS.”

Following the Alaska summit, Trump declared that a ceasefire was not necessary for peace talks to proceed, a sudden shift to a position favoured by Putin.

European officials confirmed that Trump told them Putin is still seeking control of the entire Donbas region, even though Ukraine controls a meaningful share of it.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the US and allies could offer Ukraine a NATO-like commitment to defend the country if it came under attack, with details to be worked out.

Monday’s meeting is expected to be tough for Zelenskyy, an official close to the ongoing talks said.

Zelenskyy needs to prevent a scenario in which he gets blamed for blocking peace talks by rejecting Putin's maximalist demand on the Donbas, which he has said many times he will never accept because it is unconstitutional and could create a launching pad for future Russian attacks.

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