Stuart Lau
Live page editor

The high-stakes meeting between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders has ended.

The Europeans, including British PM Sir Keir Starmer, were pleased with the meeting - which took place in a much friendlier manner compared with Zelensky's last meeting at the White House.

The key outcome is the possibility of direct meetings between Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, and Zelensky and possibly Trump.

But a noncommittal statement from Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on Monday night said only that it was "worthwhile" to "explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives" from the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in negotiations.

Another major talking point is on security guarantees. Trump says security guarantees for Ukraine would be "provided" by European countries with "coordination" by the US.

We will continue our live coverage on this new page. Please stay with us for more updates.

Rubio also reflects on the White House meeting with Zelensky and European leaders.

"I think the whole thing was a big moment, unprecedented, really," he says of the meeting hosted by Trump in the Fox News interview which we've been reporting.

"They all said the same thing, which is this, you know, after three years of sort of deadlock and no talks and no change in circumstances, this is the first time where there seems to be some movement."

He says the "only option" under the Biden administration had been to keep funding Ukraine "for however long it takes". But "now you have people actually talking about pathways towards ending it."

"Now, it's going to take a little bit more work and a little bit more time, but we are making progress."

Image source, Getty Images

Now, more from the Fox News interview with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio says that the US is working with both its European allies and non-European countries to build a security guarantee for Ukraine.

"That will be something that will have to be in place after a peace deal, so that Ukraine can feel safe moving forward," he says.

While "a number of countries" are willing to provide such security guarantees for Ukraine, Rubio says: "As the Ukrainians have said to us... the strongest security guarantee they can come up with of their future is to have a strong military moving forward."

Image source, Getty Images

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen just tweeted, doubling down on her calls from earlier today to return Ukraine's missing children.

"The human cost of this war must end," she wrote. "And that means every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families."

She was responding to a tweet from Donald Trump, who said missing and abducted children worldwide have been an issue of importance to First Lady Melania Trump specifically.

Over the weekend, the White House shared a letter written by Melania to Russian President Putin, imploring him to protect children. "Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter," she wrote.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says he was "very pleased" with the outcomes of the meeting today, specifically progress leaders made in two areas: "a breakthrough on security guarantees" and "real movement forward on the bilateral and trilateral meetings".

"That’s what I wanted to happen today and I’m really pleased we got to that point," he said in response to questions from the BBC.

When asked about concerns that the diplomacy surrounding the war in Ukraine is turning into a US appeasement of Russia, Starmer said "the most important thing is to focus on what the outcomes of today are because I think they will reassure people in Europe, in Ukraine, but particularly in the UK."

When asked about Putin being given the red carpet treatment in Alaska days ago, Starmer replied: "I support President Trump’s efforts to bring about a lasting outcomes and peaceful settlement of this conflict."

"Today has shown that we have moved forward, and that in the end for me has always been the test - are we making real progress," he said, adding that the meeting demonstrated a "real sense of unity" among European leaders, Zelensky and Trump.

He emphasised that "no decision should be made about Ukraine, without Ukraine".

Image source, Getty Images

We just listened to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak on Fox News, where he said both Russia and Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions to reach a peace deal.

"It's not easy and maybe it's not even fair, but it's what it takes to end a war," said Rubio, who was in the room during Trump's meeting last week with Vladimir Putin.

Rubio says what those lines look like will be up to Putin and Zelensky, and America's role is to ensure there's communication between the two sides.

"We are going to be there to facilitate," he said.

Straight off the back of the Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump hosted Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House as he pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine.

The last time they met in the Oval Office, it ended in an argument in front of the world's media. It was a friendlier encounter this time.

It was soon followed by a meeting of major European leaders, all of whom travelled to Washington DC in solidarity with the Ukrainian president. Beyond the smiles and warm words, how much was actually agreed at today's meetings, and are we any closer to a trilateral summit between Russia, Ukraine and the US?

Listen to the latest episode of the BBC's Americast podcast to find out: Has Trump convinced Zelensky to meet Putin?

Leaders of the European Council member states will meet tomorrow by video call to debrief today's meetings on Ukraine in Washington, the council's president António Costa says.

In a post on X, Costa says the call is scheduled for 13:00 Brussels time (12:00 BST) on Tuesday.

"Together with the US, the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests," he writes.

Image source, PA Media

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also spoke to journalists during that recent flurry of media activity.

"[On] the question of who will participate in the security guarantees... it is absolutely clear that the whole of Europe should participate," Merz told the media.

He also criticised Moscow's negotiation tactics with Kyiv.

"The Russian demand that Kyiv give up the free parts of Donbas is, to put it in perspective, equivalent to the US having to give up Florida."

Trump has just posted on his social network site, Truth Social, to praise "the distinguished and Highly Respected President of the European Commission" Ursula von der Leyen.

He says they have been discussing "the massive Worldwide problem of missing children".

"This is, likewise, a big subject with my wife, Melania," Trump continues. The first lady has been involved in peace talks recently, after writing a personal letter to Putin, asking him to protect children. During today's visit, Zelensky handed a letter from his wife to Trump, asking him to pass it along to Mrs Trump.

"It is a subject at the top of all lists, and the World will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families!" Trump writes.

For context, Ukraine says thousands of its children have been taken by Russian forces.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has been speaking with journalists in Washington DC. He says European military forces should take part in peacekeeping operations in Ukraine in future.

"We are going to need a strong Ukranian army and will need to help Ukraine with boots on the ground," Macron says. "We will need peacekeeping operations which allies of Ukraine are willing to supply."

It's not the first time Macron has floated the idea - but previous attempts did not materialise into actual deployments.

Macron also says Trump would be "willing" to impose secondary sanctions and tariffs on Moscow "if Russia doesn't play ball".

He points out that Trump had already imposed tariffs on India for buying Russian energy.

The French president adds that he's "not convinced Russia wants peace", adding that European leaders "made clear to Trump" it couldn't take weeks or months to achieve a peace agreement.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has been talking to journalists after a busy day at the White House.

He says today's talks were "partially successful", but there is "nothing concrete" about US participation in security guarantees for Ukraine.

He says Trump proposed a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin, but the Russian leader "cannot be trusted".

"We will see if Putin has the courage to come to such a meeting," he says.

Stubb says the goal was to maintain Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial autonomy, and that security guarantees could be ironed out in the next week or so.

Image source, EPA

While Ukraine's Zelensky was speaking, some of the other European leaders in Washington DC were also talking to media.

Let's check in first with the Nato Secretary General, Mark Rutte. He describes today's meetings as "very successful" and called Trump a "pragmatic peacemaker" in an appearance on Fox News.

"He's putting pressure, but he's also looking for ways to solve this," Rutte says of Trump.

He says opening up the conversation with Putin was important, and that they're working towards a trilateral meeting with Russia, the US and Ukraine.

Today, the main focus was security guarantees, and leaders will be working on those measures over the next few days, he says.

Switching from Ukrainian to English for a moment, Zelensky says that no date has been confirmed for any future talks between himself and Putin.

He says that they "just confirmed after this productive meeting with the president," that talks will continue between the Ukraine and Russia.

He says today it was "confirmed that they are ready for a trilateral meeting," but he adds that "if Russia proposed to the president of the United States a bilat, then we will see the result".

"Ukraine will never stop on the way to peace," he says, before answering a few more questions in Ukrainian about security guarantees. He then ends his remarks outside the White House fence.

We've also been listening to some of the other European leaders who were at the White House day, so stick with us as we bring you their comments.

Zelensky is taking questions from reporters now and tells them that today's meetings achieved good results.

The Ukrainian leader notes that unlike his last meeting with Trump, the pair had no arguments. He calls today a "warm" meeting.

One reporter asks Zelensky what he makes of the map of Ukraine and Russia which was seen in the Oval Office today.

"I have been fighting with what is on that map," Zelensky says. He says the map Trump showed him in the Oval Office was not correct in terms of who controls what.

Zelensky is outlining several of the topics that were discussed in his meeting at the White House.

They included the "key issue" of "security guarantees" which would be a necessary "starting point for ending war".

The US will be among those countries providing guarantees, he says.

He adds that Trump supports a trilateral meeting, which would bring Zelensky face-to-face with Vladimir Putin. Putin has so far resisted a direct meeting with Zelensky.

Zelensky notes that Trump contacted the Russians after their meeting to discuss future diplomatic steps.

The Russians, he says, support a bilateral meeting between Russia and Ukraine, but are also open to a trilateral meeting.

"We are ready for bilateral with Putin," he says.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is speaking now outside the White House. He thanks Trump, saying today's meeting with the US president was the best so far.

He says he had the chance to show Trump maps of the battlefield and explain who controls what.

He also thanks the European leaders in attendance, and said the allies were on the same page.

"Our team did a lot," he adds.

Click watch live at the top of this page to follow along with Zelensky's speech.

Europe’s 'coalition of the willing' refashions an Iraq War termpublished at 00:01 British Summer Time 19 August

00:01 BST 19 August

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

During his remarks in the White House earlier today, British PM Keir Starmer referenced a "coalition of the willing" that Europeans had formed, "bringing countries together and showing that we were prepared to step up to the plate when it came to security".

It’s a description several European leaders have used in recent weeks, but it’s not a newly coined term. Back in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, American President George W Bush frequently described the group of nations that supported US efforts as a "coalition of the willing".

The size and composition of that coalition shifted over the years – comprising 49 nations at its largest. It notably did not include Iraq War critics France and Germany, who are key members of the today’s pro-Ukraine alliance.

Only a handful nations contributed ground forces to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, and by the end of the war that "coalition of the willing" was down to just the US and the UK.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The White House has just called a "travel/photo lid" over loudspeakers here - which in the parlance of the White House press corps means we aren't going to hear anything more from them tonight.

That does not mean, however, that things are finished.

The German and Finnish embassies have both confirmed press events for their domestic media, and there is still the possibility that we might hear from Volodomyr Zelensky and Keir Starmer later tonight.

Ukraine's President Zelensky has just departed the White House following his talks with Trump and European leaders.

BBC reporters saw him leave the White House in a long convoy of black security vehicles.