EU and UK to be at Zelenskyy's side in Washington for meeting with Trump
Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Italy's PM, Giorgia Meloni, and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, will also accompany Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, as will Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
The unprecedented show of support seems designed to prevent a repeat of the public mauling experienced by Zelenskyy during his last trip to the White House, in February.
Trump, after his summit on Friday with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, has reportedly endorsed the Kremlin's one-sided plan to end the war in Ukraine. It includes Kyiv giving up territory that Russia has been unable to seize and no ceasefire until a final deal has been agreed.
Donald Trump stands with Vladimir Putin at the conclusion of their joint press conference on Friday. Picture: Photo/Jae C. Hong
Posting on Truth Social, Trump accused the media of misrepresenting his 'great meeting in Alaska' – an encounter widely seen as a victory for Putin and a humiliation for the US president. On Sunday, Trump claimed he had made 'big progress' on Russia, without giving details.
European leaders on Monday will reaffirm their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and argue against a land swap plan that rewards Russian aggression. They will also seek further clarity on what security guarantees the US is willing to offer in the event of a settlement.
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that Putin had agreed for the first time for the US and Europe to provide protection to Ukraine as part of a deal. This would be outside the auspices of Nato but would be the equivalent of the alliance's article 5 self-defence pact, Witkoff indicated.
Speaking in Brussels alongside von der Leyen, Zelenskyy rejected Putin's latest demand for more land.
Zelenskyy said Putin had been trying for 12 years to fully capture Donetsk oblast, without success. He said the current frontline should form the basis for negotiations, adding that territory could only be discussed in a three-way format with Kyiv at the table. A powerful Ukrainian army was the best security guarantee, he added.
Starmer, Merz and Macron hosted a video call with European allies on Sunday before their Washington trip.
According to the New York Times, Trump told European leaders he believed a peace deal could be negotiated if Zelenskyy agreed to give up the Donetsk region. They were unconvinced. The EU shares the Ukrainian view that Putin would use any new territory as a springboard for a further attack.
US President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday. Picture: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Two sources with direct knowledge of the talks in Alaska told the Guardian that Putin had offered to freeze the frontline in southern Ukraine if he got Donbas. The plan would mean thousands of civilians would be forced to abandon their homes in key eastern cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which have withstood years of Russian attacks.
Before Friday's Alaska summit, Trump said he wanted an immediate ceasefire. Over the weekend, however, the US president endorsed Russia's demand for a peace deal first and a truce second. Ceasefires 'often times do not hold up', Trump said in a social media post.
Trump also appears to have dropped his threat of economic penalties on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow refuses a deal. He has repeatedly threatened to impose secondary sanctions, setting various deadlines and failing to follow through when they expire.
Trump on Sunday expressed his frustration at recent media coverage. 'It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me,' he posted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. File Picture: PA
Zelenskyy said in a statement after his conversations with Trump and the European leaders: 'The positions are clear. A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure.
"All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.'
A joint statement issued by European leaders on Saturday said they were 'ready to work with US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy towards a trilateral summit with European support' but 'it will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.' They said they welcomed 'President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace'.
- The Guardian
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Europeans to back Zelensky in Washington as Trump presses Ukraine deal
European leaders will join the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet Donald Trump in Washington later today, they said, seeking to shore up Mr Zelensky's position as the US president presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. Mr Trump is leaning on Mr Zelensky to strike an agreement after he met Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged more aligned with Russia on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. "If peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands ... we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don't want to wind up there," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." Mr Trump promised "BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA" in a social media post without specifying what this might be. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said Russia agreed that any peace agreement on Ukraine must provide security guarantees to Kyiv. "Many leaders of #EU states emphasise that a future peace agreement should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine," Mr Ulyanov said on social media platform X. "Russia agrees with that. But it has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees." Top Trump officials hinted that the fate of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region - which is already mostly under Russian control - was on the line, while some sort of defensive pact was also on the table. "We were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection," Mr Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN's "State of the Union", suggesting this would be in lieu of Ukraine seeking NATO membership. Mr Witkoff said it was "the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that." Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty enshrines the principle of collective defence, in which an attack on any member is considered an attack on all. That pledge may not be enough to sway Ukraine to sign over Donbas. Ukraine's borders were already meant to be guaranteed when Ukraine surrendered a nuclear arsenal in 1994, which proved to be little deterrent when Russia absorbed Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The war has killed or wounded more than one million people. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a meeting of allies yesterday to bolster Mr Zelensky's hand, hoping in particular to lock down robust security guarantees for Ukraine that would include a US role. The Europeans are eager to help Mr Zelensky avoid a repeat of his last Oval Office meeting in February when Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave the Ukrainian leader a public dressing-down, accusing him of being ungrateful and disrespectful. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also travel to Washington, as will Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has played rounds of golf with Mr Trump this year, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of many of Mr Trump policies. European show of solidarity European leaders at the meeting projected unity, welcoming US talk of a security guarantee but stressing no discussions over territory could take place without Ukrainian involvement and clear arrangements to safeguard the rest of Ukraine's land. Some called for an immediate ceasefire, which Mr Trump originally said he was trying to secure during his summit with Mr Putin. Mr Trump later changed course and agreed with the Russians that peace negotiations could come without a ceasefire, an idea dismissed by some of Ukraine's European allies. "You cannot negotiate peace under falling bombs," Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement. A joint communique released by Britain, France and Germany after the meeting said their leaders were ready "to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased, and to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces." Some European countries, led by Britain and France, have been working since last year on such a plan, but others in the region remain reluctant to become involved militarily. Mr Zelensky said on X there had been "clear support for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty" at the meeting."Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force." He said any prospective security guarantees "must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe's participation." Mr Rubio said both Russia and Ukraine would need to make concessions to reach a peace deal and security guarantees for Ukraine would be discussed. He also said there must be additional consequences for Russia if no deal was reached. "I'm not saying we're on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Mr Zelensky and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this," Mr Rubio told broadcaster CBS. Mr Putin briefed his close ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, about the Alaska talks, and also spoke with Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Mr Trump said Ukraine should make a deal to end the war because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not." After the Alaska summit, Mr Trump phoned the Ukrainian leader and told him the Kremlin chief had offered to freeze most front lines if Ukraine ceded all of Donetsk, a source familiar with the matter said. Mr Zelensky rejected the demand.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, August 18th: On the presidency, Trump and Putin in Alaska, and being caught short at The Weir
Sir, – It had been coming on for a while but it came to a head last week. It happened in my beloved local – Smyths of Haddington Road – when one of my friends, a solemn and serious man, suggested I might make a decent president. The others, not a reverential group, quickly agreed though I suspect the prospect of pints in the Park might have been a factor in their enthusiasm. All went well until the question of background checks, family skeletons in cupboards or in my own past came up. READ MORE That cooled things down. I wondered if the story of my disreputable rogue of a cousin would surface. He had disgraced himself by his blackguarding of Parnell in that great man's last byelection, the Carlow byelction of 1891 and later received six months hard labour for a crime taken more seriously now than then. Or would they drag up great-uncle TJ who got and then lost the Irish Party nomination for the East Galway byelection in the 1890s? Why he was deselected is still a murky matter. It might not bear too much researching. And a few more cousinly names came floating back and all this before I even began to think what skeletons, mistakes, bad behaviour might be swimming around in my own past. I thanked my friends. The quiet life has much to be said for it. – Yours, etc, MAURICE MANNING, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. Trump and Putin Alaska meeting Sir, – I never thought I would say this, but I actually felt sorry for US president Donald Trump as I watched the reports of the Trump-Putin Summit, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, I felt embarrassed for him. Russian president Vladimir Putin took full advantage of the red carpet welcome given to him by Trump, while at the same time conceding absolutely nothing. At the press conference, Putin used the opportunity to give a history lesson to justify his invasion of Ukraine, while, for once, Trump seemed lost for words. My hope is that this experience has alerted Trump to the reality that he cannot trust Putin. However, Trump appears to be a slow learner so I will not hold my breath. – Yours, etc, PAULA MOLLOY, Baldoyle, Dublin 13. Sir, – Commiserations, on this occasion, to US president Donald Trump on his valiant but failed attempt to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, during his talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Perhaps, to use his own idiom, he just didn't have the cards. – Yours, etc, NUALA DELANEY, Killiney. Co Dublin. Sir, – It's apparent that there is no love lost between the US president and large sections of the media. Considering the way that many news outlets displayed a blatant bias in last year's election, Mr Trump's displeasure is understandable. However, the mutual dislike is beginning to get silly and childish. For example, at the funeral of the late Pope Francis, many commentators were more obsessed with Mr Trump's choice of suit than concentrating on the solemnity of the occasion. Now at the recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska they have latched on to the fact that a red carpet was laid out at the foot of the aircraft. The latter is standard procedure for all visiting heads of state, regardless of their reputation. For example, in the UK and Ireland the red carpet has been rolled out for all sorts of questionable heads of state. A few years ago, the Chinese premier Li Qiang made an overnight stop in Ireland and almost ¤3,000 was splashed out on, you've guessed it, a red carpet. To put it mildly, China has a questionable human rights record. From blue suit-gate, to red carpet-gate. Can we please have more substantive reporting than this childish trivia? – Yours, etc, ERIC CONWAY, Navan, Co Meath. Sir, – While Putin said he sincerely wants to end the war, what he forgot to add was 'but on my terms'. – Yours, etc, PAUL KEENAN, Killiney, Co Dublin. Angelus strikes a wrong note Sir, – I can only answer 'yes' to William Burke's question 'Isn't it time to remove the Angelus from RTÉ's airwaves (Letters, August 14th). Having written to The Irish Times and RTÉ on the subject (and having been castigated by several follow-up letters) I think it is time to review this issue again. It is not the role of the national broadcaster to deliver 'a spiritual moment' to the masses, and it is not indeed a spiritual moment directed to the masses, it is directed to Catholics. If I want a spiritual moment I am quite happy to listen to bird song or waves on a beach. The Angelus is the anthem of an organisation which still discriminates against half the population, campaigns against contraception and abortion in all cases, refuses their sacraments to same sex couples and further discriminates against citizens of this country who belong to the LGBTQ+ community. On more than one occasion in the recent past a news report on clerical sex abuse being delivered on RTÉ's excellent Drivetime programme has been interrupted with 'a pause for the Angelus' and it is time we all saw the irony and contradiction in this. Ireland is now a country with a diverse population in terms of gender, colour, nationality, religious belief (or absence of same) and sexual orientation, and our national broadcaster needs to reflect this. Let those who wish to listen to the Angelus make their own recordings which they can play at midday and 6pm, but please allow those of us who do not subscribe to Catholicism to enjoy RTÉ's television and radio programmes without any historical and outdated religious trappings. – Yours, etc, GARY DOYLE, Straffan, Co Kildare. A warning on The Weir Sir, – Your review of The Weir omits what should be the standard warning that accompanies any references to performances of that play: do not drink alcohol immediately before watching a performance because it does not have an interval ('The Weir review: Brendan Gleeson and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor bring timeless play to Dublin,' August 14th). As it happens I attended the original production of The Weir in St Martin's Lane, London in the late 1990s. I was with my cousin and we both, as usual, had several pints of beer beforehand. Despite our best efforts at 'containment', we both separately had to leave our seats to go to the toilet right in the middle of a scene in the play. My cousin was so affected that he never again drank alcohol – before watching any play. – Yours, etc, FRANK DESMOND, Cork. The feasibility of MetroLink Sir, – In recent weeks, Dermot Desmond and Michael O'Leary have expressed views that the MetroLink project idea should be scrapped. Common sense should prevail and it should be scrapped. The metro project has been discussed for over 20 years. About €500 million has been spent to date and not one metre of track has yet been installed. In December 2023, then minister for transport Eamon Ryan stated that he believed the long-promised metro would begin operating in the early 2030s. He also expressed confidence that the line would be built at an estimated cost of €9.5 billion. In March 2025, an estimated figure of €23 billion was suggested. Estimated. The truth is, no one knows how much it will cost. As we have seen with the children's hospital project, it has grown enormous fiscal legs, as it was never correctly costed from the very onset of the project. Even now, no one knows the final price for the completed hospital. Historically, large capital projects in Ireland typically come in well over budget, with gigantic, uncontrolled costs being the norm. Dublin Port Tunnel and the first Red and Green Luas lines spring to mind as State projects where high cost overruns doubled the cost at completion time. Potentially, MetroLink could come in at ¤40 billion if the trend is followed. It won't even be a proper metro. Just one underground line from the airport to St Stephen's Green is hardly a metro system. Given our current housing crisis, the metro project would also remove valuable construction manpower from house building, which is already experiencing labour scarcity. With chronic traffic issues in Dublin, it would be wiser to invest the vast sums of money in a full Luas for Dublin. With a Luas line running from Broombridge Luas depot up through Tolka valley and via Finglas on an elevated track line along the N3 on to Ballymun and turning towards the airport from Ballymun. In tandem, a Dart line from the airport down to the Dart at Clongriffin or Portmarnock stations could easily be built. Much of the ground between the airport and either of these two stations is open, undeveloped, including Belcamp, down to the Malahide Road. Scheduling the Darts from Clongriffin or Portmarnock could allow for a slow and fast link to Connolly Station, linking out to the south side of Dublin to Bray and into Co Wicklow or running north towards Drogheda. This would give a larger catchment area of airport passengers. Such links would reduce car use to the airport. As a qualified mining engineer with experience in tunnelling works early on in my career, I know that tunnelling projects typically run vastly over initial cost estimates. Delays associated with unforeseen hostile ground conditions, mechanical breakdowns and other problems all add to cost overruns and claims from contractors. A prime and relevant Irish tunnelling project is the Dublin Port tunnel, which came in at ¤2 billion, double the estimated cost 22 years ago. So, can someone in Government just decide to stop this nonsense and ask Transport Infrastructure Ireland for a swift feasibility study on a combined Luas and Dart link from the airport? It will save the State and the taxpayers from another multibillion-euro white elephant. – Yours, etc, RORY O CONNOR, Chartered Engineer, Lucan, Co Dublin. Sir, – David Clarke (Letters, August 14th) expresses doubts as to whether Michael O'Leary is 'speaking from personal experience about public transport' in relation to arguments he raises concerning access to Dublin Airport. Is this not a slightly churlish comment regarding a man who once demonstrated his commitment and support for the concept of public transport by purchasing a private taxi licence plate so that he could share the semi-exclusive bus-lane corridor provided for them? – Yours, etc, JAKE WALSH, Clogherhead, Co Louth. Sir, – I agree Dublin needs a rail link to the airport, but MetroLink should not be seen as the only, or best, solution. An overground line could be built far more quickly and at a fraction of the cost. Living beside the Dart, I see the benefits such a service brings to local communities, and a similar link to the airport could serve passengers and residents without the huge tunnelling expense. If MetroLink is about connecting suburbs, should we not also be planning similar links for Lucan, Rathfarnham and other areas? For the relatively low population density of Dublin's suburbs, underground tunnels are financially and environmentally prohibitive. Peer-reviewed studies show tunnel construction emits, on average, 27 times more CO2 per kilometre than surface rail. An overground route could be delivered in under five years for about ¤1 billion. The billions saved could fund sustainability projects that cut emissions and help Ireland avoid up to ¤28 billion in EU penalties. Otherwise, we risk pouring all our resources into one line while leaving much of Dublin behind. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'HARA, Co-founder, Techies Go Green, Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin 8. Press freedom and Palestine Sir, – Killian Foley-Walsh may have been quite chuffed when he spotted that Palestine is ranked even lower than Israel on the current World Press Freedom Index (Letters, August 15th), but this fact does not lend his argument as much force as he thinks. Apparently, he sees this as evidence that statistics coming from Palestinian sources should be treated with at least as much caution as those coming out of Israel. Perhaps he is right: peer-reviewed studies (in publications such as The Lancet) have shown that the death toll in Gaza is, if anything, substantially higher than the figures released by the health ministry. Has the letter writer also considered that the low ranking of Palestine in the Press Freedom Index might have anything to do with the fact that Gaza is currently one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists? Elsewhere on your Letters page, David Woods wants us to take seriously the parallel he suggests between Israel's violation of international law and the actions of protesters carrying placards in support of an organisation (Palestine Action), whose proscription by the UK government is the subject of ongoing legal challenge, and has been widely condemned by human rights groups for its impact on people's right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. What is happening in Gaza is one of the most appalling atrocities we have witnessed in modern history, and it is hard to understand why some people seem so determined to distract us from it with such equivalences and semantic games. – Yours, etc, BRENDAN O'CONNELL, Crumlin, Dublin 12. Sir, – Dr David Woods states that Londoners taking part in a proscribed demonstration 'are doing the same thing' as Israel is, by its creeping annexation of the West Bank. The mind boggles at the thought that anyone, let alone a university lecturer, could see any equivalence between these respective actions. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'DWYER, Clogheen, Cork. Not a record Sir, – The writer, whose name eludes Michael Keegan (Letters, August 14th), could not have heard John McCormack singing On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring, even on a record. This is a beautiful piece for orchestra by Frederick Delius, which doesn't call for any contribution from a singer! – Yours, etc, GILLIAN SMITH, Dublin 6.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Russia would suffer ‘two million more casualties' if it tries to take Ukraine's four eastern regions by force
Zelensky has warned Putin will try attack in the coming days to strengthen his hand in ceasefire talks PUTIN'S TOLL Russia would suffer 'two million more casualties' if it tries to take Ukraine's four eastern regions by force RUSSIA would suffer almost two million more casualties if it tries to take Ukraine's four eastern regions by force, UK officials have claimed. Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraws from Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. The Russian tyrant has reportedly told US President Donald Trump that he could still capture the territories anyway if the peace deal negotiations collapse. But an intelligence briefing from the British Ministry of Defence suggested it would take Russia another 4½ years to achieve it based on its current advances. It said that 'would lead to approximately 1,930,000 further Russian casualties' — either killed or wounded. The memo continues: 'This is in addition to the approximately 1,060,000 casualties Russia has already likely sustained since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including around 250,000 killed or missing presumed dead.' Yesterday fighting continued, with Russian missiles raining down in Bilozerske in the Donetsk region. Yet Ukraine claimed to have made major gains in the oblast, retaking the settlements of Hruzke, Rubizhne, Novovodiane, Petrivka, Vesele and Zolotyi Kolodiaz in a 12-day push. It came after Putin's forces made a sudden offensive to break six miles towards Ukraine's main defensive line in Donetsk. President Zelensky has warned the Moscow madman will try to attack in bursts in the coming days to strengthen his hand in ceasefire talks. Putin general, 57, 'has arm and leg amputated' as he fights for life after Ukrainian strike on Russian column in Kursk
