With a little help from his European friends, an outfit that resembled a suit instead of his trademark T-shirt, a hand-delivered letter from his wife forFirst Lady Melania Trumpand a volley of ingratiating "thank yous," Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyavoided the public mauling he received during his previous visit to the White House. But will it lead to the next apparent step toward peace with Russia? A meeting with President Vladmir Putin. President Donald Trump seems to think so. "I think he wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me," Trump was caught on a hot mic saying to French President Emmanual Macron, referring to Putin, as he prepared to sit down on Aug. 18 with Macron and six other European leaders who had traveled to Washington to shore up support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Zelenskyy gets warmer reception:Takeaways from high stakes Trump meeting Many Ukrainians, European officials and political scientists questioned Trump's commitment to Ukraine after herolled out the red carpetfor Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15. After their summit concluded, Trump echoed Russia''s position on peace negotiations and appeared to put his threat to impose onerous sanctions on Russia on the shelf. In Washington,Trump told Zelenskyythe United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war, though the extent of any promised assistance was not immediately clear. He also appeared to dismiss the need for any ceasefire, a key demand of Ukraine, before peace negotiations can start. It remains wholly unclear if Ukraine would be willing to cede territory stolen by Russia before and during the war to achieve peace. Zelenskyy's been saying since 2022, whenRussia's full-scale invasionbegan, that land-for-peace is a non-starter. Still, the Putin factor may be cloudier than all of these unknowns. Following Monday's meeting, Trumpsaid he called Putin. It was around midnight Moscow time, according to Yuri Ushakov, a Russian foreign policy advisor whose remarks were published in state media. They spoke for about 40 minutes. In a post on hisTruth Social media platform, Trump said he called Putin to start arranging talks between Russia's leader and Zelenskyy. He said he wanted to see Putin and Zelenskyy hold face-to-face talks, in a location to be determined. After that, Trump would join Putin and Zelenskyy for a discussion aimed at pushingthe two warring sides closer together. Zelenskyy changed his attire:Key moments from White House meeting with Trump Zelenskyy described the talks with Trump as the "best" so far. Trump said they were "very good." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signaled the meeting might happen within the next two weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Geneva as a possible location. The plan for direct talks sounds straightforward. It may not be, according to Phillips O'Brien, a historian and professor of strategic war studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. O'Brien has closely tracked the war in a daily newsletter. On Aug. 19, O'Brien wrote that the Putin-Zelenskyy "may or may not happen." For a start, for more than three years Moscow has repeatedly nixed the idea of a Putin-Zelenskyy sit-down. The two leaders are bitter enemies. Putin, by all accounts, runs aninscrutable if strongmangeopolitical playbook. Trump's own relationship with bothPutinandZelenskyyhas been winding, running hot, then cool, then hot. Overnight Russian attack:Ukraine says it shows Putin does not want peace Moscow itself did not shed any immediate clarifying light. "The idea was discussed that it would be worthwhile to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian sides − that is, those representatives participating in the mentioned direct negotiations," Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said in reaction to the proposed Putin-Zelenskyy meeting that would subsequently feature Trump, in remarks posted on theKremlin's Telegram channel. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:After Zelenskyy meeting, Trump calls for Ukraine leader to meet Putin
