U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

President Trump and European leaders met for a one-of-a-kind summit at the White House on Monday to push toward a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. But by the end of a marathon day of meetings, details on what such an agreement might entail remained elusive.

German Chancellor Merz broke with the generally optimistic tone at the European leaders meeting at the White House on Monday, stating a ceasefire is necessary for peace.

Ukraine will promise to buy $100bn of American weapons financed by Europe as part of a deal to obtain US guarantees for its security after a peace settlement with Russia, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.

Leaders of European countries presented a united front Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they hope to steer President Trump away from concessions to the Kremlin.

The problem is that they have no strategy of their own for ending the Ukraine war, other than hoping to contain Russia over the longer term.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon at the White House, just days after Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin left an Alaska summit without a ceasefire deal.

Hours before he was due to host Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump also said there would be "no getting back" the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion.