President Trump said Tuesday that it would be “better” if Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met without him first as Trump pushes the leaders to bring an end to the more than three-year-long war in Eastern Europe.

President Donald Trump is holding hastily arranged talks Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a host of European leaders — a rarity at the White House — as he seeks to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Just after noon, European leaders including Macron, Starmer, von der Leyen, Rutte, and Meloni began arriving one by one at the White House. According to the White House schedule, Trump will first meet with Zelensky at 1:15 p.m. before greeting the European leaders, followed by a multilateral meeting with all parties at 3:00 p.m.