00:00I think that we had very good conversation with President Trump.
00:05Very good.
00:06And it really was the best one, or sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future.
00:12There's now growing optimism for a Ukraine peace deal.
00:16Today, President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
00:20and several other European leaders at the White House.
00:23Among the main issues, what happens to about 20% of Ukrainian territory
00:29Russian troops currently control.
00:31President Trump, Ukraine, and European leaders want a deal that includes security guarantees.
00:36They want to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching another invasion in the future.
00:43Today's meeting comes just days after President Trump met with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
00:49And tonight, Local 12's Chris Arno talked with local Ukrainians about how they are feeling about these summits in recent days.
00:56All right, Chris, so what are they telling you?
00:59Well, yeah, Kyle, those I spoke with see a lot of more positives out of today's meeting.
01:03It's in contrast to what they say they saw from that summit that took place in Alaska between President Trump and Putin last week.
01:12Now I'm truly shocked that it's lasting so long.
01:15Jane Nemirovska DeSantos came to the U.S. from Kiev back in 2010.
01:20She's seen from afar the toll Russia's war in Ukraine has had.
01:24Nobody wants to see your friend or family posting on social media, please give me money for the burial.
01:33And that, I mean, or my house is destroyed, I'm now homeless.
01:37That happened to my classmate on July 31st.
01:42She has no home no more.
01:43She says watching President Trump meet with President Putin in Alaska last Friday was a hard pill to swallow.
01:49We became another country that welcomes the dictatorship, the terrorism, and really welcoming with our military kneeling and rolling the red carpet.
02:01But I don't think anybody else has ever gotten that kind of receiving by the United States.
02:09Monday's meeting was met with more optimism from the local Ukrainian community.
02:13During a roundtable discussion, leaders presented a united front of peace as they hoped for an end to the war.
02:20President Zelensky and European allies stressed the need for security guarantees and a peace deal to keep Russia from invading Ukraine in the future.
02:28The peace for Ukraine means that it's happened today, tomorrow, and 10 years later, not like in two years that Russia decides that they changed their mind.
02:38A possible ceasefire was also discussed, with President Trump seemingly ruling that idea out, instead pushing for a route to permanently end the war now.
02:47Natalie Penchuk is a third-generation Ukrainian.
02:50The idea of a ceasefire is, of course, very alluring, right?
02:54But Mr. Putin has never really promised, or if he promised he would do it, he doesn't do it.
03:05The only way this war can be resolved is if Mr. Putin decides to withdraw from the Ukrainian territory.
03:13Well, President Trump has pushed for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, followed by a trilateral meeting with the two leaders and himself.
03:22Kyle?
03:23All right, Chris, thank you so much.
03:24I want to give you a little context right now.
03:26President Trump says Ukraine won't get Crimea back.
03:29The Peninsula and the Black Sea was transferred to Ukraine by the Soviet Union in 1954, when both were part of the USSR.
03:37When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine got it under Putin.
03:41Russia illegally annexed Crimea.
03:43That was back in 2014.
03:45It is strategically important to both Russia and Ukraine for its naval bases and beaches.
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