Trump tells Zelenskyy US would help with Ukraine's security in a peace deal

"They are a first line of defence because they're there, but we'll help them out."

Mr Zelenskyy struck a deferential tone, expressing gratitude more than once for the support of the United States. Picture: PA

Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine, as he and Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy began a hastily arranged White House meeting to discuss a path to peace.

But he also suggested to reporters that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian president Vladimir Putin and opposed by Zelenskyy and most European leaders