ESPN's Stephen A. Smith praised Trump for Russia-Ukraine negotiations, as one of the few prominent figures on the left to praise Trump.

P resident Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for a high-stakes meeting as the U.S. president pushed for a deal to end Moscow's war on its neighbor. A host of European leaders joined the pair.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that he believes President Donald Trump is prepared to “crush” Russia’s economy with a new wave of sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming weeks.

The president says he wants Zelensky and Putin to meet alone before he joins them in a potential trilateral discussion.

In a day of diplomatic maneuvers, Europeans argued that Kyiv should not yield key cities, and Trump designated Rubio to draft security guarantees.

Zelenskyy and Trump expressed hopes that talks with Ukrainian and European leaders at the White House could lead to trilateral talks with Putin to bring an end to his war on Ukraine.

Trump's action comes after his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, where the Russian leader told him that mail-in ballots led to his electoral defeat in 2020, Trump said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, alongside several European allies. Trump has urged Zelenskyy to accept a land swap deal with Russia after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.