'War Is Going To End', Says Trump, Meets Zelenskyy At White House

United States President Donald Trump, while briefing the press along with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, expressed confidence of achieving truce between warring neighbours Ukraine and Russia.

"The war (Russia-Ukraine) is going to end. When it ends, I can't tell you but the war is going to end and this gentleman wants it to end and Vladimir Putin wants it to end," he told reporters.

Trump met Zelenskyy at the White House — three days after he held the high-stake summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Trump was also scheduled to meet a delegation of top European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, later on Monday.

Trump, while speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, credited himself for "ending six wars" since the onset of his presidency. This includes the conflict between "India-Pakistan", Trump said, as he reiterated the claim of mediating the truce between the two South Asian neighbours despite New Delhi's repeated denial.

"You take a look at some of these wars, you go to Africa and take a look at that. Rawanda and the Congo - that has been going on for 31 years. We have done a total of 6, not including the fact that we totally obliterated the future nuclear capability of Iran...I feel confident that we are going to get this (Russia-Ukraine) war off," Trump said.

Following his meeting with Zelenskyy and the European leaders, Trump could be dialling his Russian counterpart. "Putin expects my call," Trump said, adding that he aims to set up a trilateral meeting between him, Putin and Zelenskyy, with the goal to achieve "lasting peace".

“We may or may not have a trilat. If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance — I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it,” Trump said.

Zelenskyy, in response to media queries, said “we are ready for a trilateral,” but added that his country still needs support from both the US and European allies.

The tone of conversation between Zelenskyy and Trump appeared cordial, as against their February interaction at the Oval Office when both leaders had exchanged heated jibes.

Zelenskyy, this time time, wore a jacket while arriving at the White House, as compared to the war fatigues he had donned last time — which was labelled as an act of disrespect by Trump's allies.

Trump, on being asked by the press over no call for ceasefire made following his meeting with Putin last week, said he "didn't do ceasefires" but achieved lasting peace while "ending six wars" in recent period.

"I like the concept of ceasefire for one reason that you would stop killing people immediately as opposed to two weeks or one week or whatever it takes. We are working on a peace deal while they are fighting. I wish they could stop, and I want them to stop, but strategically, it could be a disadvantage for one side or the other. I have made all these deals without the mention of the word 'ceasefire'," Trump said.