'The Alaska Summit made me realise that while difficult, peace is within reach.'
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke after Trump paused his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders on Monday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The source said the Europeans were not present for the conversation then.
A European official told CNN that Trump paused the negotiations with the European leaders and Zelenskyy in order to call Putin.
The news was first reported by the German newspaper Bild, who reported the talks with European leaders would continue after the call with Putin at the White House.
Trump and Putin held a 'candid and very constructive phone call' on Monday, a top Kremlin aide said, as per CNN.
Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that during the roughly 40-minute call, Trump informed Putin on his talks with the European leaders.
The Russian leader 'expressed support for direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine,' he said.
Following the meeting, Trump said he had begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.
Trump and Putin had 'discussed the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of representatives of Moscow and Kyiv at the talks,' Ushakov said. He stopped short of confirming whether Putin had agreed to a bilateral or trilateral meeting.
Putin also thanked Trump again for hosting him during his trip to Alaska, Ushakov said.
Meanwhile, Trump has promised that the US would be involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
The US leader said there would be some form of security guarantees for Ukraine, but did not reveal whether this would involve US troops.
'The Alaska Summit made me realise that while difficult, peace is within reach. In a significant development, President Putin agreed to accept security guarantees for Ukraine, a key point we must consider,' Trump said.
'We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact, that is, the war zone... We are going to try to get a three-party meeting with President Putin and President Zelenskyy, as soon as we can,' he said.
Trump said he had a very good meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders in the Oval Office.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, 'I had a very good meeting with distinguished guests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, in the White House, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office.'
'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,' the post read.
The post further said, 'At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy.
'After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.
'Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
The White House, too, in a statement said, 'We have had a very successful day so far. We are all working for the same goal. We want to stop the killing and resolve this.'
Zelenskyy said the group touched upon several sensitive matters.
'I think that we had a very good conversation with President Trump... it was really good. We spoke about very sensitive points,' he said.
European leaders to discuss a peace deal to end Russia-Ukraine war.
Two separate meetings were held at the White House: First, between Trump and Zelenskyy, and then a second meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy, NATO and European leaders, and the presidents of five NATO nations, according to the US department of defence press release.
The talks come on the heels of the August 15, 2025, meeting in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said there did not need to be a ceasefire in Ukraine, because a peace deal could be worked out while Ukraine and Russia are at war.
'Ultimately ,this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine...The six or so wars that we have stopped, we haven't had a ceasefire, and I don't know if it's necessary, and you can do it through the war...
'I believe that a peace agreement at the end of all this is something that is attainable and it could be done in the near future," he said.
Trump said that through these talks, he intends to save people from dying.
'We had a very good conversation with President Trump,' Zelenskyy said. 'It was a good one but the best is yet to come. We discussed sensitive points, starting with security guarantees...
'The security in Ukraine depends on the United States, on you, and those leaders who are with us... All of us want to finish this war."
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff
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