We are ready for a trilateral meeting, says Zelensky

Oval Office meeting avoids rancour of February showdown as Moscow refuses to accept Nato security guarantees for Kyiv

- SAM KILEY ANDREW FEINBERG

Volodymyr Zelensky said he was prepared to meet Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at a joint summit to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president made the pledge during talks with his US counterpart at the White House, hastily convened after President Trump's encounter with Putin last Friday.

When Mr Trump suggested that all three leaders could gather if last night's talks went well, Mr Zelensky added: “We are ready for trilateral.”

The cordial meeting between Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump was a world away from the unseemly shouting match which took place in February, and preceded talks between the two men and European leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the EU and Nato, who had all flown to Washington DC in a show of solidarity for Ukraine.

Mr Trump said he was “honoured” to have so many senior European leaders in one place at the same time.

There were broad smiles between him and Mr Zelensky as the US president mostly resisted the temptation to lecture Ukraine's leader and further reiterated his support for an unspecified role in “security guarantees” for Ukraine as part of a peace deal.