Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump expressed hope that their critical meeting Monday with European leaders at the White House could lead to three-party talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to his war on Ukraine.

The U.S. president also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine as European leaders gathered in Washington to show support for Ukraine at the extraordinary White House meeting.

Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to the effort, saying instead that there would be a “NATO-like” security presence but that all those details would be hashed out in their afternoon meeting with EU leaders.

“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” Trump said. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”

Trump's engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly different feel to their last Oval Office meeting in February. It was a disastrous moment that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had shown insufficient gratitude for U.S. military assistance.