Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined European and NATO leaders to thank Trump — a lot — six months after the White House accused him of being ungrateful.

It was a striking contrast to the meeting six months ago, when Trump, red-faced and angry, accused an agitated Zelensky of failing to show enough gratitude to the United States. The blowup was so heated that the Ukrainian delegation was sent from the White House without being allowed to eat their waiting lunch.

President Trump has offered only vague assurances of security guarantees for Ukraine if President Volodymyr Zelensky agrees to cut a deal with Russia.

Just after noon, European leaders including Macron, Starmer, von der Leyen, Rutte, and Meloni began arriving one by one at the White House. According to the White House schedule, Trump will first meet with Zelensky at 1:15 p.m. before greeting the European leaders, followed by a multilateral meeting with all parties at 3:00 p.m.

The Ukrainian leader seemed mostly upbeat about his latest White House appearance, describing his meeting with Trump as "warm". His optimism, however, appeared deliberate as he sought to avoid a repeat of his last Oval Office visit and convince his American hosts to embrace the European position on ending the war.

We don’t have any date,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters about a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Trump said he hopes to hold a trilateral meeting with himself and the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that Monday’s gathering would eventually pave the way for three-way talks with Vladimir Putin.

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