Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a masterful charm offensive to win over President Donald Trump and set up a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the years long war in Ukraine.
Trump hyped a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky after he called the Russian leader following a dramatic summit in the White House with European leaders.
The potential peace deal immediately drew skeptics, as French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not ‘see President Putin very willing to get peace now.’
Zelensky laid the groundwork by offering a $100 billion weapons deal as an olive branch to Trump.
The Ukrainian leader also donned corporate attire in accordance with his more nuanced approach to handling the professionally-dressed US president.
Zelensky clearly learned several lessons from his last visit to Washington, which led to a bitter confrontation with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
This time he had the backing of several European leaders, including the UK’s Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and France’s Emmanuel Macron. The heads of state had coached him prior to speaking to Trump, The Times reported.
He may have either taken their advice or the withering counsel of Vice President Vance from the last time they met, as he was immediately complimentary of and thankful for Trump.
Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a masterful charm offensive to win over President Donald Trump and set up a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the years long war in Ukraine
Zelensky had the backing of several European leaders this time, including the UK’s Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and France’s Emmanuel Macron . The heads of state had coached him prior to speaking to Trump
In fact, The Washington Post noted that Zelensky thanked Trump approximately 11 times in a nearly five-minute public address Monday.
He thanked Trump another seven times in 50 seconds as they addressed the press in the Oval Office, the site of their infamous showdown in March.
‘Thanks so much, Mr President. If I can, first of all, thank you for the invitation, and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts, to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you,’ Zelensky said.
Beyond pleasantries, Zelensky had come prepared to speak in the language that Trump made famous: the art of the deal.
He announced that Ukraine plans to buy $100billion in American weapons in exchange for the ‘major step forward’ toward peace Zelensky believes Trump has offered.
The European allies will be helping Ukraine finance the deal, as well as a $50billion deal between Washington and Kyiv to help Ukrainian companies produce drones, The Financial Times reported.
Trump told Zelensky on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear.
‘When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,’ Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. ‘They are a first line of defense because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.’
The European allies will be helping Ukraine finance the deal, as well as a $50billion deal between Washington and Kyiv to help Ukrainian companies produce drones
Trump hyped a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky after he called the Russian leader following a dramatic summit in the White House with European leaders
Trump refused three times to rule out putting American boots on the ground though any assistance is more likely to come in the form of air support.
Zelensky hailed the promise as ‘a major step forward,’ adding that the guarantees would be ‘formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days.’
However, Zelensky clearly saw charming the president as key to getting any deals done.
He borrowed a move from Starmer, who received compliments from Trump in February after he presented the president with a letter from King Charles.
This letter was instead from Zelensky’s wife, Olena, addressed to Trump’s wife, First Lady Melania.
‘It’s very nice,’ said Trump.
Zelensky corrected: ‘It’s not to you, it’s to your wife, about our children, our abducted children.’
‘Oh, I want it,’ Trump replied, before praising his wife in self-deprecating fashion.
Zelensky borrowed a move from Starmer, who received compliments from Trump in February after he presented the president with a letter from King Charles. This letter was instead from Zelensky’s wife, Olena (pictured left), addressed to Trump’s wife, First Lady Melania (pictured right)
‘She’s got a great love of children. She has a wonderful son that she loves, probably more than anyone including me, I hate to say it.’
He also gave Trump credit for bringing peace to other parts of the world which led to perhaps the most important aesthetic change Zelensky made between now and his last visit.
Brian Glenn – the journalist and boyfriend of Marjorie Taylor Green who slammed Zelensky for not wearing a suit months earlier – pointed out how Trump’s federal intervention had made Washington DC a more peaceful place.
‘If I can walk around with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe,’ Glenn said, which led Trump to reintroducing the pair.
‘President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit,’ Glenn noted.
Trump added: ‘I said the same thing. This is the one that attacked you last time, you remember that?’
‘I remember,’ Zelensky replied.
Glenn said: ‘I apologize to you, you look wonderful.’
Perhaps the most important aesthetic change Zelensky made between now and his last visit was Zelensky’s choice to wear a suit
In a far more light-hearted encounter than their previous meeting, Zelensky noticed how Glenn was wearing a similar outfit to the last time the two met.
‘But you are in the same suit,’ Zelensky shot back. ‘You see, I changed you [did] not.’
The reply was followed by laughter from fellow members of the press, before Glenn replied: ‘Maybe yours is much better than mine.’
Trump initially declared himself ‘very happy’ and hyped up plans for a historic showdown between Zelensky and Putin after a 40-minute phone call with the Russian leader.
However, Putin has failed to commit to peace talks with Zelensky – fueling fears he will pull out of efforts to end the Ukraine war at the last minute.
It comes as the Kremlin branded a 40-minute phone call between President Trump and Putin on Monday as ‘frank’ and only ‘fairly constructive’.
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov made the comments as he confirmed the pair had explored ‘raising the level of representatives of Moscow and Kyiv at the talks’.
Furthermore, the leaders of both Finland and France have declared their skepticism in Putin making a deal.
Trump initially declared himself ‘very happy’ and hyped up plans for a historic showdown between Zelensky and Putin after a 40-minute phone call with the Russian leader. However, Putin has failed to commit to peace talks with Zelensky
Furthermore, the leaders of both Finland and France have declared their skepticism in Putin making a deal
Speaking after he left Trump’s historic talks in the White House with Zelensky and other European leaders, Alexander Stubb said: ‘Putin is rarely to be trusted.
‘So now it remains to be seen whether he has the courage to come to this type of meeting.
‘Does he have the courage to come to a trilateral meeting, or is he once again playing for time?’
Macron, speaking to NBC News, praised the president’s optimism but was similarly wary of Putin.
‘When I look at the situation and the facts, I don’t see President Putin very willing to get peace now,’ he said.
‘But I think this is great news, and indeed, your president is very confident about this capacity to get this deal done with President Putin, and it’s great,’ Macron added.
Their rhetoric was in stark contrast to that of President Trump who hailed the success of Monday’s talks in the White House.
The president said on social media Monday that he and Putin discussed plans for a summit between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, at a location to be determined.
President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House
Following that diplomatic showdown, Trump said he will then sit down with both leaders in an attempt to make peace in the war torn country.
‘This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,’ he said.
Zelensky responded by saying ‘we are ready’ for any leader-level meetings while speaking to reporters after the White House. He said it’s the only way to solve these ‘complicated and painful issues.’
The Ukrainian leader was reluctant to set conditions for the meeting, regarding a potential ceasefire or other matters, to prevent Russia from making their own demands, potentially jeopardizing those talks.
‘That’s why I believe that we must meet without any conditions,’ he told reporters.
Zelensky said Trump showed him a map of the Ukraine front lines in the Oval Office and they got into a little debate about territories it showed. But they didn’t argue, he said.
‘We had a truly warm, good and substantial conversation,’ Zelensky said.
No date has been set for him and Putin to meet, he said, though German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said afterward that Trump and Putin agreed there will be a meeting ‘within the next two weeks.’
Trump revealed that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.
The president said on social media Monday that he and Putin discussed plans for a summit between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, at a location to be determined
‘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,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘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 Zelensky. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.’
Monday’s meeting, which was praised by Zelensky as the best he had with Trump, saw the two presidents swap praises as they sought to make progress towards peace.
However, lots of questions remained unanswered early on Tuesday morning as to what that would look like or how it would come about.
The hastily arranged scenes at the White House saw a contingent of European leaders, including Starmer, put summer holiday plans to the side and arrive at the West Wing to stand with Zelensky.
They were locked in talks on Monday night as Trump pledged they would ‘come to a resolution today on almost everything, including probably security’.
He had earlier spent an hour with just his Ukrainian counterpart, presenting him with a giant battlefield map showing the 20 per cent of the country under Russian control.
The ‘possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact’ was up for discussion, the President said.
Trump told reporters: ‘If everything works out well, we will have a tri-lat [between himself, Zelensky and Putin] and have a good chance of ending the war.’
Responding calmly to a provocative first question from an American journalist over whether he is prepared ‘to keep sending Ukrainian troops to their deaths’, Zelensky said he was ready to sit down with Putin.
‘We support the idea of the United States, of personally President Trump, to stop this war, to make a diplomatic way of finishing this war’, he said. ‘And we are ready for a trilateral, as the president said.
‘This is a good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good.’
It was a complete contrast from their meeting nearly six months ago, when Trump abruptly halted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and kicked President Zelensky out of the White House after a blistering Oval Office shouting match between the two leaders.
The unprecedented scene left Ukraine’s future in doubt as the country fights for its life.
Tempers flared on all sides during the February Oval Office showdown. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine completely if Zelensky did not agree to his peace terms. He also accused Zelensky of not being grateful.
Zelensky held his own, even showing Trump photos he brought of the devastation to his country, and arguing he had thanked the American people.
The yelling match was unlike anything ever seen publicly in the Oval Office. And it played out on TV screens across the world.
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump bellowed Zelensky at one point.
After the contentious meeting Trump announced he had asked Zelensky to leave.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote:. ‘It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved.
‘Because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.’
After the cameras left the Oval Office, Zelensky went to a holding room in the West Wing. He and Trump did not meet again.
Trump issued his statement. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who were in the Oval Office meeting, went and told Zelensky his meetings at the White House were over, a White House official said.
The two leaders never had their scheduled lunch. White House reporters saw it sitting in the hallway outside the Oval Office, untouched.
Trump and Zelensky had been scheduled to participate in a press conference later Friday. That was canceled.
However, tempers soon calmed down with the pair meeting at Pope Francis’ funeral and months later, despite healthy skepticism from Europe, Zelensky and Trump appear to be getting along better than ever.
