Donald Trump has welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. Keir Starmer and other European leaders are also there for talks about ending the war in Ukraine. Watch and follow live below.
Monday 18 August 2025 22:50, UK
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According to a new report in the Financial Times, Ukraine will promise to buy $100bn of American weapons as part of a deal to obtain US security guarantees.
The reports says Kyiv’s European allies will finance the deal.
It says that, under the proposals, Kyiv and Washington would agree to a $50bn deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies.
The FT says the proposals were shared with the US ahead of this evening’s meetings.
Talks in the White House have resumed in a “leaders only format”.
Ukrainian president’s spokesperson Serhii Nikiforov says in a message to journalists: “After a break, talks resumed in the Oval Office in a ‘leaders only’ format.”
It comes as a White House officials confirms the East Room meeting, which included other officials, has concluded.
Military analyst Sean Bell explains why Vladimir Putin is intent on taking the whole of the Donbas region – and what it means if he wants to seize the rest of Ukraine…
Ukrainians will be relieved that this evening’s meetings didn’t blow up into a disaster in the Oval Office, says international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn from Kyiv.
“They’ll be encouraged to some extent that diplomacy is sort of back on track.
“But that diplomacy is the wrong way round.
“For them, the opening premise is that Vladimir Putin does not want just a bit of Ukraine.
“He doesn’t believe that Ukraine should exist at all as an independent entity and needs to be absorbed into Russia.
“He’s not going to rest until the ambition is achieved.”
Ukrainians would say a show of force is the only thing that can convince him there’s no point in continuing, says Waghorn.
Handing him territory would do the opposite.
“I think they feel that the most important thing is a ceasefire is demanded again, and the threat of much more severe sanctions is felt again by Vladimir Putin – and they’re alarmed that that has receded for now.
“They have a huge number of lingering concerns about where this is all heading.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has shared a message after the meeting in Washington.
She posted an image of the leaders alongside Donald Trump inside the White House with the message: “We are here, as allies and friends, for peace in Ukraine and in Europe.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will stay in Washington for further talks, even as the meeting between Donald Trump and European leaders ends, our US partner NBC News reports.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian leader told NBC: “The meeting has ended, but European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are staying for now in DC to continue talks, potentially in another format.”
It comes after we reported that Trump had interrupted the talks to call Vladimir Putin.
“The first lady felt very strongly, she has watched the same things that you and I watched,” Donald Trump said earlier, speaking in the Oval Office besides Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“She’s got a great love of children,” the US leader added, explaining his wife’s feeling of the war in Ukraine.
“She sees the heartbreak, the parents, the funerals,” Trump said.
Melania Trump wrote to Vladimir Putin on the US-Russia summit in Alaska on Friday.
The US president said this was “very well received,” by Putin.
Tonight, Zelenskyy handed Trump a letter to Melania, from his own wife.
Watch Trump discuss Melania’s role here…
Throughout today, we’ve repeatedly heard one message from Ukraine’s European allies – the possibility of Article Five-style security guarantees for Ukraine.
Such guarantees are vital for Europe and once seemed completely off the table.
Our foreign news reporter Michael Drummond explains what the NATO article is here, and what it entails….
What is Article Five?
Article Five is the core principle of the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
It says that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.
It further states that if such an armed attack happens, each other member would take “such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area”.
Article Five covers the territory of member states in Europe and North America as well as Turkey.
It doesn’t cover bases in foreign countries or territories outside the alliance area – for instance, it didn’t apply to the Vietnam War, the Falklands or to the Iranian attack on a US base in Qatar this year.
How does Article Five work?
This is where it gets a bit more complicated.
When Article Five is invoked by a NATO member, allies can provide any form of assistance they deem necessary to respond to a situation.
It doesn’t automatically mean military assistance and it’s up to each individual ally to decide what action they think is necessary.
That assistance is then taken forward in conjunction with the rest of the alliance.
This was a tension between Europe and the US at the founding of NATO – the US did not want to sign itself up to automatically provide assistance – and it’s very similar to what we are seeing with President Trump now.
Has Article Five ever been invoked?
Yes, once. After the September 11 attacks, NATO allies triggered Article Five and came to America’s assistance.
This culminated in the NATO-led invasion of Afghanistan due to accusations that the ruling Taliban had provided safe haven to al Qaeda.
NATO allies fought side-by-side with the US and in some of the fiercest parts of the campaign.
They shared the burden of those who did not come home too.
So what’s an Article Five-style guarantee?
We brought you the news earlier that Russia opposed “the participation of NATO countries” in Ukraine – see our 19.30 post.
An Article Five-style guarantee might bypass this, but neither Europe nor Ukraine has offered much in the way of detail to what these may look like.
We brought you the details from the European leaders sitting down with Donald Trump this evening.
Catch up on how it unfolded and what the leaders said here…
Donald Trump has interrupted the meeting with European leaders to call Vladimir Putin, Sky News understands.
It is understood he took the call in a different part of the White House to where he was meeting with the European leaders.
It comes after German paper Bild reported on the development and said the meeting would continue afterwards.
Trump initially said he would call the Russian leader after meeting with the leaders in Washington.
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