U.S. President Donald Trump has touted a “big, beautiful” agreement on Ukraine following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Thursday.
Trump did not provide details of their discussion at the White House to reporters, but suggested an agreement to end the war in Ukraine could be reached.
“There’s going to be an agreement. It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” Trump said.
“I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement and everyone’s going to be thrilled.”
Trump said he did not meet with representatives of Ukraine who had also travelled to Washington.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said the U.S. had held “productive and substantive discussions” in Brussels with representatives from Ukraine, NATO, and European partners.
The talks focussed on two “essential and interlinked elements of a lasting peace: security guarantees for Ukraine, and a broader European security architecture,” he wrote on X.
“We are working intensively with all parties to find practical solutions that can bring this war to an end and establish the foundations for lasting peace,” Kushner said.
“Our objective is to address the security concerns of all sides through practical, mutually agreed arrangements that reduce the risk of future conflict.”
Earlier on Thursday, Dmitriev thanked U.S. First Lady Melania Trump for her role in securing a temporary ceasefire in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian town, during an unusual public appearance at the White House.
Speaking at an event hosted by the first lady, Dmitriev conveyed Putin’s gratitude for her “distinguished humanitarian role” in brokering the ceasefire in the front-line town of Oleshky.
The truce lasted from Tuesday until Sunday evening last week, with both Russia and Ukraine repeatedly thanking Trump for her efforts to evacuate people stranded in Oleshky, where food and medical supplies had grown scarce.
Dmitriev, a close Putin ally, previously held talks with U.S. officials at the White House in April 2025, but those meetings took place behind closed doors.
According to U.S. media reports, this was the first time he had spoken at an officially announced White House event.
It also appeared to be the first time Russian and Ukrainian representatives had met in person at the White House.
Ukrainian representatives were also invited, including David Arakhamia, parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, and human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets.
With the U.S. acting as mediator, Ukraine and Russia are set to hold talks in Abu Dhabi next week to find a way to end the full-scale war which broke out with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (dpa/NAN)
