Interruption of Summit Meeting Over Trump's Call with Putin, According to Sessions - Trump and Putin momentarily paused their meeting for a phone conversation
In an unexpected turn of events, President Donald Trump interrupted a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on August 18, 2025, to take a direct call from Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office. This phone call paused the ongoing discussions regarding Ukraine peace talks.
The reason for the interruption was not disclosed, but it was clear that the conflict in Ukraine was the main topic of the talks. The phone call was part of Trump’s efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, following recent summits, including a prior meeting with Putin in Alaska, which had not been previously reported.
Trump later described every conversation with Putin as "a good conversation," despite his frustration at ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine. However, Moscow later denied plans for a bilateral meeting with Zelensky, attributing the reluctance to Putin's dislike of the Ukrainian president. Trump mentioned that Putin had agreed to a meeting with Zelensky, but the exact nature of the discussions between the two leaders during the phone call remains unclear.
The discussions with the Europeans after the initial interruption were said to be in a potentially different format. The timing of the phone call between Trump and Putin, as well as the Ukraine summit, was not specified. The potential impact of the phone call on the Ukraine summit, or the summit's impact on the conflict, was not discussed.
The talks took place at the White House in Washington, and while the source of the information about the phone call and subsequent discussions was not explicitly stated, initial reports of the phone call came from German newspaper "Bild." The Ukraine summit at the White House involved discussions with European leaders, but the identities of these leaders were not specified.
- The European Union is currently evaluating its policy-and-legislation regarding the war-and-conflicts in Ukraine, given the recent phone call between President Trump and President Putin, and the potential implications for the common foreign and security policy in politics.
- General news outlets, such as German newspaper "Bild", report that the EU is closely following the latest developments in Ukraine, particularly in light of the unforeseen interruptions during the Ukraine summit at the White House, and the uncertain impact on the ongoing peace talks.
