Seven world leaders gathered in the White House today for a multilateral meeting to discuss how to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The two strongest outcomes were Trump indicating the US would be involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine and facilitating a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Here’s how each world leader reflected on the meetings:

US President Donald Trump

Trump was far more tempered in today’s discussions with Zelensky than he was at their infamous February meeting.

“This was a very good, early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years,” Trump said in a post on TruthSocial.

“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky said he would meet with Putin in any format. He reaffirmed that Ukraine will not accept a temporary ceasefire and is seeking permanent peace. He said Russia and Ukraine should meet without any conditions and that it was Russia that first offered the bilateral meeting, with a trilateral meeting to follow.

Zelensky added it was the only way to solve these “complicated and painful issues”.

He described the outcomes of his meeting with Trump as “good” and “normal”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Starmer said the US agreeing to security guarantees for Ukraine and facilitating a meeting between Zelensky and Putin were two material outcomes of today’s “good, productive” meetings.

“There was a real sense of unity and we made real progress today,” Starmer told reporters. Starmer said Ukraine “must be at the table” for peace talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron

Macron agreed with Starmer’s sentiment and said the “most important outcome” is the “US commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees” to Ukraine.

Macron also said he has “the greatest doubt” about Putin’s will to stop the war. Macron also said nations must be ready to heighten sanctions on Russia if Moscow is not intent on fostering peace.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz credited Trump with persuading Russia’s president to agree to a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.

“We don’t know whether the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit. Therefore, persuasion is needed,” said Merz. “The American president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said details of security guarantees for Ukraine could be ironed out within the next week or so. He also expressed doubts about whether Russia would engage in peace talks.

“We will see if Putin has the courage to come to such a meeting, he cannot be trusted,” Stubb said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

“I think it is an important day and a new phase after three years … we didn’t see any kind of sign from the Russian side that there was a willing[ness] for dialogue, something has changed thanks to [Trump],” Meloni said at the multilateral meeting.

With AP, Reuters