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Trump Hosts Zelenskyy After Summit With Putin; European Leaders Join Zelenskyy for Trump Meeting; Trump Says He'll Have Trilateral Meeting With Zelenskyy and Putin if Everything Works Out Well Today. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[14:00:55]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We are following our Breaking News. President Trump is meeting right now with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House, and they're discussing terms of a peace deal less than 72 hours after Trump summited with Vladimir Putin. Any moment now we're expecting that President Trump will welcome several key European leaders into the conversation. They're actually already there at the White House. They were just steps away as this Oval Office meeting was happening.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Moments ago, the president invited cameras into the Oval Office, alongside Zelenskyy. Really a strikingly different scene from the meeting we saw earlier this year. I mean, safe to call it, a disastrous meeting earlier this year. A very different tone, there were chuckles in the room, smiles, immediate gratitude expressed by the Ukrainian leader who was accused by the Vice President back in February of being ungrateful for U.S. help. Zelenskyy though purposely thanking Trump here. Listen.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you. And using this opportunity, many thanks to your wife, thanks to our partners, and that you supported these four months and after our meeting, we can have leaders who are around us, U.K. and France, Germany, Italy, Finland, E.U. and NATO, I mean, all partners around Ukraine supporting us. Thanks to them. Thank you very much for invitation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We have a full slate of reporters covering every angle of this story. Let's start with Kristen Holmes, who's at the White House for us. Kristen, take us through what you saw as the most significant part of this meeting.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I just want one to note one quick thing that you talked about. You talked about Zelenskyy understanding what he needed to do to essentially make sure this went smoothly. Now both leaders, both Trump and Zelenskyy were walking a fine line here. They were both on their best behavior. But what we saw was really a transformation of Zelenskyy from that last time when things had gone off the rails, not only did he say that he was grateful to President Trump. At one point, he also said that he was grateful for the new NATO program in which weapons are bought from the U.S. and then sent to Ukraine. He clearly heard that messaging loud and clear.

Now, a couple of notable moments were the fact that neither party took the bait from reporters in the room. We know at one point, Trump was asked, you have said that this is Zelenskyy's war to end. Zelenskyy, you have said that this is Putin's war to end. Which is it? They both danced around that question. And another point, he was asked specifically, who holds the cards? President Trump, remember, this was something he kept shouting at Zelenskyy during that Oval Office meeting in February. You don't hold the cards. He demured on that answer saying it was not something that he wanted to talk about. He didn't want to say.

Zelenskyy was asked a very loaded question that essentially said, are you willing to let you Ukrainian troops continue to die? Or will you redraw the maps? And he said, I believe there is a diplomatic resolution, that we can have a diplomatic resolution to this war. But talking about what seemed the most significant, other than the tone of this meeting and this shift between these two leaders, was when President Trump was asked about security measures. There was a lot of talk about protecting Ukraine and specifically, he was asked about whether or not the U.S. would consider troops on the ground. This is what he said.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your team has talked about security guarantees. Could that involve U.S. troops? Would you rule that out in the future?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We'll let you know that maybe later today. We are meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also. And we'll be talking about that. They'll all be involved, but there'll be a lot of -- there'll be a lot of help. When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help. It's going to be good. They are, first line of defense because they're there, they're Europe. But we're going to help them out also, we'll be involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, there are a couple of other noticeable moments. One, President Trump said that he spoke to Putin indirectly before this meeting and was going to call him after the meeting with both the European leaders and with Zelenskyy.

[14:05:00]

Another part of this is that President Trump said that if they are able to have a trilateral meeting out of this, that he believes that would bring a reasonable end to the war. Or you could reasonably believe that that would bring an end to the war.

KEILAR: Kristen Holmes live for us at the White House. And let's go now to CNN's Fred Pleitgen. He is in Moscow. Fred, how is this playing out in Russia, especially President Trump not ruling out sending in U.S. troops if necessary?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, first of all, I think the Russians are obviously watching very closely what happens there in Washington, D.C. President Trump, of course, noted that he was going to call Vladimir Putin right after the meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, ends. That's of course the same thing that he did after his meeting with Vladimir Putin, is that he called Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he was back on Air Force One and in the skies, as Steve Witkoff said in his interview on CNN on Sunday.

So, it seems as though President Trump is trying to play that mediation role that obviously, he's been playing for a while here in the Ukraine conflict. I think for the Russians, there's several things. First of all, one of the things that, that we're seeing is that the Kremlin is saying as little as possible. I think they want to watch this play out. The Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, she came out earlier today and said that NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine would be unacceptable for Russia. It's unclear to what extent she's on message, because the Kremlin itself has been much more vague as far as that's concerned.

Vladimir Putin, of course, in his press conference next to President Trump on Friday in Alaska, said that Russian was open to security guarantees for Ukraine, of course, while not being specific about what that actually means. So certainly, there are still various points, obviously, of discussion there to be had, how far those security guarantees can go and to what extent the United States is actually going to be a part of them. The more difficult question, no doubt, is going to be about territories. And there, of course, the Russians have sort of apparently outlined where they're at, wanting the Donbas region in its entirety, possibly talking about freezing some of the other front lines in the southeast of Ukraine.

But all of that seems to be a very difficult topic. The Ukrainians obviously, also saying that it is extremely difficult for them. They would have to change their constitution. So there no doubt are going to be extremely difficult conversations to be had. But I think right now, the Trump Administration believes it can possibly move things forward. The Kremlin is clearly waiting to see what happens. But over the past couple of days, Brianna, what we've seen here in Moscow is really the Russians just exuding optimism after that summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, where they believe that the Trump Administration is now very much on the same page as the Putin Administration as far as not wanting a direct ceasefire, but rather going for a negotiations process at the end of which would be a larger peace agreement. That in effect is what Vladimir Putin has been calling for the entire time, Brianna.

SANCHEZ: And Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Moscow. Thank you so much. Let's get the Ukrainian view of things with CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's in Kyiv for us. Ben, what's the reaction there to what we saw at the White House?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when that rather chaotic press event ended, I think I heard a very large sigh of relief coming from throughout the Ukrainian capital. One MP saying there is some good news, they didn't fight, that's good. There was a lot of fear because of some of the social media posts by President Trump in the hours leading up to their meeting, that he wasn't in a good mood. He was angry about press coverage of the Alaska Summit, and that anger would be manifested in the Oval Office.

But we saw, from the beginning, he came out, he greeted President Zelenskyy, they both smiled for the cameras. And President Zelenskyy sort of played all the right notes in that meeting in the Oval Office. By thanking repeatedly President Trump in the United States, he avoided any questions that might have been controversial. He was asked about redrawing the map. he said that no, that they want to -- they need to stop the war. They need support from the United States. They need weapons and training and intelligence sharing. So, a catastrophe was avoided.

However, there was some comment from one Ukrainian journalist who said, yes, this has been great so far. Things are going to go great in the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump. And then with the meeting of the European leaders, Trump and Zelenskyy, and then Trump will call Putin and everything will change a hundred times again. Certainly, what Ukrainians have learned is this is a U.S. president who changes with the wind and the worry is that once he gets on the phone with President Putin, the whole tone could change again.

[14:10:00]

But so far today, people are very relieved here in Ukraine that a disaster was averted.

KEILAR: Indeed, crisis averted. thank you so much, Ben. Really appreciate it. Let's talk about this now. We have former National Security Adviser for President Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton and CNN Chief National Affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny. Ambassador, what did you think of the meeting? Did you think that it went well, better than it could have gone for sure?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP AND FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, I would say it was a normal meeting, which is progress. But remember what the iconic French Foreign Minister, the Marquis de Talleyrand once told his young diplomats, don't get too enthusiastic in your work. And I've always found that good advice. They had a normal meeting. That's great. Now let's see what happens.

SANCHEZ: You, in and an op-ed you wrote for The Wall Street Journal talked about the silver lining being that a ceasefire not being reached in Alaska actually helps Ukraine. Help us understand why.

BOLTON: Well, I think a ceasefire along the existing front lines on the battlefield, then followed by what could well be very extensive negotiations lasting months, years, could turn that ceasefire line into the new Ukraine-Russia border. There's always a risk of that. It's happened in numerous other U.N. peacekeeping operations in the case of Korea in the 1950s. So, there's a big caveat to that, which to carry -- it means to carry on the war, Ukraine still has to have necessary military support from Europe and the United States. It sounds so far at least, like that could continue.

I don't think the Russians are going to negotiate really seriously until they suffer reverses on the battlefield. Putin thinks he's on a roll now, and they are gaining small amounts of territory at an exorbitant human cost. I think if those direct -- movement of the troops was in the other direction, he'd be a lot more eager to talk.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": KEILAR: How -- if -- can you help us understand, Jeff, how the White House, how President Trump sees Ukraine's land and what he believes Zelenskyy needs to cede to Russia? We saw the post where he said, Crimea -- basically said that Zelenskyy should give up any claim to Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and give up any desire -- hope to join NATO. But of course, there's a lot more land besides Crimea in question here. How does he view that? Is it like a bargaining chip? What does he see?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he certainly does not view the land in the way that President Zelenskyy does or the people of Ukraine does. I mean, for President Trump, it is just something on a map that he's not that familiar with. He doesn't take that much interest in. But I think going into this meeting specifically, by saying no Crimea and no NATO, that is what was his kind of opening bargaining point here. I'm not sure he is that interested in the fine print of what specific part of the Donbas is going to Russia or if Ukraine can hold onto.

But, I think that he is willing to, it sounded Friday, like he's willing to effectively agree with President Putin's view of that. But I think one thing that strikes me in this, I mean, President Trump said he wants a trilateral meeting to come from this. Putin has never agreed to that. So I think after this meeting, President Trump said he's going to talk to Vladimir Putin. He said he's expecting my call. So, if President Trump is able to coordinate a trilateral meeting that would happen sometime in the coming days or weeks, that would be significant. That's something that has not happened yet, of course.

But I think it's important to point out that Putin has not agreed to the meeting, and he has insisted on eventually wanting need to buy more time. And so, we'll see how quickly that meeting is scheduled. And in terms of crisis being averted, I think you make a very good point. It was a normal meeting. We have zero idea what's happening right now in the Oval Office or what is going to come up when the European leaders sort of join this. So, I think it is very, very early on, probably at the first quarter of this very consequential day in the White House.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador, when you look at what's been reported about what is on the table regarding a potential peace deal, you're talking about some sort of security guarantees in the form of a reassurance force that President Trump, as you pointed out earlier, Jeff would not rule out U.S. forces being a part of, even though he's been skeptical of it -- expressed skepticism of before. And then also, this idea that there would be some kind of Article V like agreement between allies of Ukraine to intervene if Russia were to advance its incursions down the road/

Is that actually enough to keep Vladimir Putin away from his ambition of remaking the Russian imperial order?

[14:15:00]

BOLTON: I think we're a long way from any of that. I can't wait till the MAGA base hears that Donald Trump has committed American combat forces, U.S. forces against Russian forces on the line in Ukraine if they -- if the Russians violate the ceasefire. One nuclear power directly against another nuclear power, I don't think that's what they signed up for with Donald Trump. And I don't think he's necessarily thought through that implication either. He wants a Nobel Peace Prize and he wants it now. So he's willing to say a lot of things. He didn't really commit to anything.

You could have all kinds of U.S. troops in Ukraine, as we did before the invasion. We had train and assist missions. They weren't there to fight anybody. They were there to train the Ukrainians. That's very different from a combat force. And in terms of Article V, Steve Witkoff said this yesterday in an interview with Jake Tapper. I've listened to that portion of the interview several times. I don't understand it at all, because Witkoff started with Article V and then started talking about enshrining a Russian commitment not to take more territory in Ukraine, not to take any other territory in Europe, in Russian law, which doesn't have anything to do with Article V or Article V like guarantees.

Moreover, and I hate to raise this point, but the question of what Article V actually means in a non-NATO context, very much up in the air. And so you'll forgive me, I'll read six words from Article V, that the parties when one is attacked, it's one -- attack on one is an attack on all. What do they do? They are "to take such action, each party takes such action as it deems necessary -- as it deems necessary." And then it says, including the use of armed force, meaning you're not required to use armed force. You could, or you could send a note saying, that's terrible. Do let us know how it turns out.

KEILAR: Lot of wiggle room there.

BOLTON: That's right.

KEILAR: As you point out. Ambassador, Jeff, stay with us, if you would. We're witnessing, of course, a remarkable moment this hour. European leaders gathering at the White House in a coordinated effort to support Ukraine after President Trump's summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is there right now, and they just had a fascinating meeting there in the Oval Office, because of how normal it was. We'll have much more on this when we return.

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[14:22:06]

KEILAR: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of President Trump's high-stakes meetings at the White House as he tries to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

SANCHEZ: And right now, behind closed doors, the president is expected to meet with key European leaders, and we should see them emerge for a group photo soon before their multilateral meeting this afternoon. We will of course bring you that as it happens. We're joined out by Steven Pifer. He's a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. He's also with the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us. I wonder what you made of what you saw this afternoon, if it portends that there is peace within reach for Ukraine.

STEVEN PIFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, I think the meetings that are taking place at the White House are extraordinarily important. President Trump, prior to Alaska, said his stated goal was to achieve a ceasefire. And apparently, Vladimir Putin stiffed him and instead they talked about this understanding, which I think is quite problematic for Ukraine. And so, one of the reasons why you have a half dozen European leaders coming here is they're hoping to find a way diplomatically to steer President Trump away from that understanding to something that might be more acceptable to Ukraine.

KEILAR: You've said that to get Putin to bargain seriously, he needs to be made to see that he will fail to attain goals on the battlefield and that he will pay high -- a high and escalating price for continuing to try. I mean, this is -- analysts will tell you Putin recognizes strength, right? Not weakness. So what should European leaders be saying to Trump at this point?

PIFER: Well, I think they should be encouraging President Trump to use some very powerful cards that he holds, which he hasn't yet put down on the table. One, he could ask Congress for more military assistance for Ukraine. But also in this meeting, he has the right people there. President Trump could talk to the Europeans and say, look, we have frozen about $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets. Let's now just seize that money, put it into a fund that Ukraine can use both for reconstructions and arms purchases. And the message to the Kremlin is, Ukraine will have the resources for years to continue to arm itself and continue to stymie Russia's invasion.

That might cause the Kremlin to begin to think in a different way. But unfortunately, President Trump did not play those cards in Alaska. I hope maybe as a result of conversations today, he'll begin to play those cards.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador Pifer, I want to bring in another former ambassador into the conversation. John Bolton is still with us. Ambassador Bolton, I wonder what you make of the idea that President Trump still has cards to play, as Ambassador Pifer pointed out. Is there more that Trump could do to pressure Putin and perhaps relieve some of the pressure that he's put on Zelenskyy?

[14:25:00]

BOLTON: Well, there's an enormous amount he could do, which he's deliberately not undertaken. He said on the plane, on the way to Alaska, we're going to get a ceasefire or there'll be severe consequences. No ceasefire, no severe consequences. Right now, despite the ultimatum that he gave the Russians sometime back, there have been no sanctions imposed on Russia itself for not coming to a serious discussion to end the war. No sanctions on China, only sanctions on India, which has had the effect of singling India out, not Russia, not China, but India, and made the Indian government and people incandescent at the way we've treated them.

So, Putin's still skating along. Xi Jinping skating along, and our relations with India have gone through the tank. There's one way to change that and that's, if you're going to put pressure on Russia, put it on and don't talk about it and sort of drive by sanction a country we've been trying to woo away from Russia and China. We've now driven them back together.

KEILAR: Can you, Ambassador Bolton, tell us how you are viewing the roles of these parties? Are you viewing America as a go-between between Zelenskyy in Europe and Russia? Are you viewing Trump as more aligned with Putin, and these are kind of Putin and Trump across the table from Zelenskyy in Europe? How do you see it?

BOLTON: Well, I think it's like a loose ball in football. Nobody knows exactly what Trump's role is at the moment. Putin certainly reversed things on Friday in Alaska. I think he did work his KGB training, the old magic is back. Now, we'll see a day of Zelenskyy and six or seven Europeans trying to wrestle him back in the other direction. He's going to call Putin right after this. This is going to go back and forth like a ping pong match, I think. for the foreseeable future. I think what Trump wants is a Nobel Prize, whichever way he can get it, being a mediator, being an advocate, doing whatever. That's what he wants.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador Bolton, please stand by. Ambassador Steven Pifer, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. We are continuing to follow Breaking News, a live view of the White House where any moment President Trump is set to appear with other European leaders, among them, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, just days after his summit with Vladimir Putin. Stand by. We'll be right back.

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