In a whispered conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit with other European leaders on Aug. 18, the U.S. president seemingly shared that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to end the war in Ukraine in order to hand Trump a victory. The comment was picked up via hot mic, Fox News reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

US and European officials started work on bolstering Ukraine’s military, part of a package of security guarantees that will open a path to a landmark meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos is joined by the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, to weigh in on the aftermath of Trump’s meeting with Ukraine and European leaders.

Neither the U.S. nor Europe has concrete plans to guarantee Ukraine's future security. But there are signs of progress on picking a venue for a meeting on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting face to face.

Ukraine and its European allies have been buoyed by Trump's promise during a summit on Monday of security guarantees for Kyiv, but many questions remain unanswered. Officials told Reuters that the Pentagon is carrying out planning exercises on the support Washington could offer beyond providing weapons.