European leaders on Saturday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump'splans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, while stressing the need to keep pressure on Moscow and protect Ukrainian and European security interests, Reuters reported.

Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict.

The U.S. president is open to a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelenskiy, but for now the White House is planning a bilateral meeting as requested by Putin, a White House official said. Russian and Ukrainian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the prospects of a trilateral meeting, according to Reuters.