Trump: “President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and key European leaders are meeting at the White House on Monday afternoon to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump expressed hope that Monday’s critical talks with Ukrainian and European leaders at the White House could lead to trilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

For more than a decade, the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine has been the focal point of intense battles and diplomatic disputes between Kyiv and the Kremlin. Now it could be on the table in peace talks with the United States.

Ahead of the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington on Monday, President Donald Trump said Ukraine should give up efforts for NATO membership and Russian-annexed Crimea.

President Trump has outlined specific parameters for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue peace with Russia, including giving up Crimea and not pursuing NATO membership, ahead of a

Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War.

Donald Trump has made it clear that Crimea is off the table in any peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a declaration that strikes at the very heart of the decade-long conflict.