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.

Demonstrations have been held in the city home to about 300,000 people for several days, protesting the reception of Putin on US soil and holding talks on Ukraine without the participation of its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On a virtual call that included a collection of European leaders, the Ukrainian president pushed for ceasefire and security guarantees.

Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Monday for a four-way meeting including Europeans in response to US President Donald Trump's hopes of bringing together the Ukrainian and Russian presidents.