WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were scheduled to meet in Washington at the White House on Friday to discuss Ukraine’s air defense and long-range strike capabilities amid Russia’s continued war in Ukraine and escalating attacks on both sides.
The timeline below details key moments between the two world leaders:
MARCH 2019
Trump allies and others begin circulating a discredited theory beneficial to Russia that Ukraine colluded with Democrats to meddle in the 2016 election to harm Trump.
APRIL 2019
Zelenskiy, a comedian with no political experience and few detailed policies, wins Ukraine’s presidential election by a landslide and upends the status quo, later securing an unprecedented mandate when his party secures the majority in a snap parliamentary election. He takes office on May 20.
JULY 25, 2019
Trump, in a now-infamous phone call with Zelenskiy, asks the Ukrainian leader to “do us a favor” and investigate former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, Biden’s son Hunter, and the discredited theory that Ukraine colluded with Democrats in the 2016 election. The call later triggers the first impeachment case against the Republican U.S. president. Hunter Biden had joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was U.S. vice president, a post he left in early 2016 when Trump first took office.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
U.S. House of Representatives launches an impeachment inquiry over Trump’s call with Zelenskiy. As the probe continues, Zelenskiy says Trump did not seek to blackmail him during the call. Trump denies any wrongdoing, saying it was a “perfect” call and that there was no quid pro quo, calling it a Democratic hoax.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Trump and Zelenskiy meet in person for the first time at a U.N. gathering in New York. The U.S. Justice Department also releases a summary of the Trump-Zelenskiy call just days after a whistleblower complaint about the July call is published in The Washington Post. The unclassified version of the complaint is released the next day. The timing of the July call — shortly after the United States froze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine — prompted concern that Trump used taxpayer money approved by Congress as leverage for his personal political gain.
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
The U.S. Senate votes to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial, voting largely along party lines 52-48 against the two articles of impeachment backed by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives in December 2019.
NOVEMBER 7, 2020
Trump loses his reelection bid to Biden after results from enough U.S. states show the former Democratic vice president won the November 3 election, but claims without evidence that the contest was rigged. He leaves office on January 20, 2021, just days after his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol in a bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying his loss. He departs Washington without attending Biden’s inauguration, as is customary for U.S. presidents.
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Russian forces invade Ukraine, a former Soviet state, in Moscow’s biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
NOVEMBER 5, 2024
Trump again wins the presidency, defeating Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris. Zelenskiy is among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump and his “decisive leadership.”
JANUARY 20, 2025
Trump is sworn in for a second time as U.S. president, after campaigning in part to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on “day one.”
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
Trump and Zelenskiy clash at their first face-to-face meeting since Trump began his second White House term, resulting in a diplomatic disaster and prompting an outpouring of global reaction.
MARCH 3, 2025
The White House says Trump has halted all U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
AUGUST 18, 2025
Zelenskiy joins European leaders for a meeting at the White House just days after Trump met with Putin for a summit in Alaska. Trump said the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war there, a promise that Zelenskiy hailed as “a major step forward.” Both leaders say the talks could help lead to three-way talks with Putin.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2025
Zelenskiy travels to New York to address the United Nations and meet with Trump. Shortly afterward, Trump dramatically shifted his rhetoric about the conflict, saying he believed Ukraine could retake all of its land occupied by Russia and urging Kyiv to act quickly. Ukrainians shrug off the comments while analysts and others appear skeptical.
OCTOBER 17, 2025
Trump hosts Zelenskiy for a third time at the White House as Kyiv seeks more long-range weapons, more than three years after Russia launched its invasion.
(Reporting by Susan HeaveyEditing by Rod Nickel)
