Zelenskyy arrives at White House for talks with Trump and EU leaders

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at the White House for talks with Donald Trump and European leaders.

The Ukrainian president and his American counterpart were seen shaking hands ahead of their bilateral talk on the war in Ukraine, set to be held in the Oval Office.

Mr Zelenskyy waved to reporters, with Mr Trump later putting his arm around Mr Zelenskyy's shoulder for a brief moment as the Ukrainian president smiled at him.

They will later meet European leaders, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron, for a multi-lateral meeting in the White House's East Room.

The meeting comes just days after Mr Trump's Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the summit, Mr Putin has reportedly made demands to take control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as a condition for ending the war.

In exchange, Russia would give up other Ukrainian territories held by its troops, according to several news reports citing sources close to the matter.

Russian troops currently occupy large parts of the two regions and, in September 2022, Moscow announced it was officially annexing them, alongside the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, in a move rejected and condemned as illegal by the West.

Read more: Putin's demands would be bitter blow to Ukraine

Mr Trump is said to be planning to urge Mr Zelenskyy to agree to the conditions as part of a peace deal to end the war - despite the Ukrainian president previously ruling out handing any territory to Moscow.

The previous time Mr Zelenskyy visited the White House, his meeting with Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance descended into chaos when Mr Vance berated Ukraine's leader for being insufficiently grateful for US help - in front of the media.

He completed his ambush of Mr Zelenskyy by mocking him for not wearing a suit, with Mr Trump adding that the Ukrainian did not "have the cards right now with us".

Read more:
Why is Zelenskyy bringing a posse of European leaders to talks?
Analysis: Meeting will be no repeat of Oval Office meltdown

The disastrous meeting ended with Mr Zelenskyy prematurely leaving the White House. He later said the bust-up was "not good for both sides".

This time, Mr Zelenskyy appeared to set the tone by arriving at the White House dressed in a smart black collared shirt and black jacket with lapels.

Sky News' US correspondent Mark Stone said he believes this "will be seen as a really important moment. We have learnt with Donald Trump that the trivial matters as much as the detail".

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