Trump tees up White House showdown with European leaders on Russia-Ukraine peace with cryptic message: Live updates

President Trump is set to host Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House today following last week’s Alaska summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Several other European leaders will travel to Washington D.C., including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The meeting comes amid Trump’s intensified efforts to reach a peace agreement in the ongoing three year Russia-Ukraine war.

Earlier, Trump took to Truth Social to post several messages hitting out at ‘fake news’ for calling his upcoming White House meeting with world leaders a ‘big loss.’

He also posted a cryptic message overnight directed toward Zelensky, months after their disastrous Oval Office meeting that had the Ukrainian leader fleeing the White House without a deal.

‘President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,’ said Trump.

‘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!!!’

The White House asked Ukrainian officials if Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky would wear a suit to the meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, according to a report from Axios.

During Trump’s last Oval Office meeting with Zelensky, the Ukranian leader’s outfit was a major issue for the president.

Back in June, Trump met Zelensky, who was wearing a black jacket, at a NATO summit.

Zelesnky will reportidely come to the White House later in the same jacket, according to Axios.

Vladimir Putin appeared to ‘spook’ members of Donald Trump’s team after the two leaders met in Alaska on Friday, some observers have claimed.

The two leaders hammered out the beginnings of a Ukraine peace deal at the summit, with Putin securing concessions on a ‘land swap’ that would see vast swathes of Ukraine become Russian.

And today the U.S. President is expected to try and pressure Zelensky into accepting the deal in crunch talks at the White House that will also be attended by European leaders.

At last week’s Pursuing Peace summit, Russian president Vladimir Putin said he is interested in ending the war in Ukraine at his joint press conference with Donald Trump.

‘I agree with President Trump, as he has [said] today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well,’ Putin said.

‘Naturally, we are prepared to work on that I would like to hope that the agreement that we’ve reached together will help us bring closer to that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.’

Putin said on Friday that having a good relationship with Trump makes him confident that ‘we can come to see the end of the conflict in Ukraine.’

In February, President Donald Trump abruptly halted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and kicked President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the White House after a blistering Oval Office shouting match between the two leaders.

It proved an extraordinary day at the White House, which saw Zelensky walk out of the West Wing and slip into his SUV following an explosive encounter with the president.

He was driven away under a flood of camera lights and left dozens of unanswered questions.

The unprecedented scene left Ukraine’s future in doubt as the country fights for its life.

Today, Zelensky will be back at the White House for the first time since the disastrous showdown earlier this year.

Donald Trump said he made ‘some headway’ during his 2.5-hour-long meeting with Vladimir Putin last week.

‘We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,’ Trump said, ‘We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.’

In an extremely uncharacteristic move, Trump allowed Putin to speak first – at what had been billed as a bilateral press conference – and then didn’t answer a single question before shaking hands with Putin again and sauntering offstage.

Their whole appearance before the press lasted just 12 minutes following more than three hours of private conversation.