European leaders to join Zelenskiy for Washington talks as Trump presses peace deal
Ahead of the Washington talks on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were hosting a meeting of allies on Sunday to shore up Zelenskiy's position, hoping in particular to lock down robust security guarantees for Ukraine that would include a U.S. role.
President Trump is leaning on Ukraine to strike an agreement after meeting Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. According to sources, the U.S. and Russian leaders discussed proposals for Russia to relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine ceding a swathe of fortified land in the east and freezing the front lines elsewhere.
At face value, some of Putin's demands would be hugely difficult for Ukraine to accept, setting the stage for potentially fraught talks about ending Europe's deadliest war in 80 years, which has killed or wounded more than 1 million people.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also travel to Washington, as will Finland's President Alexander Stubb, whose access to Trump included rounds of golf in Florida earlier this year. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is an admirer of many of Trump's policies, will also go to Washington, her office said.
European allies are keen to avoid a repeat of Zelenskiy's last Oval Office meeting, in February. That went disastrously, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance giving the Ukrainian leader a strong public dressing-down.
"The talks will address, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression," the German government said in a statement about the Washington trip.
"This includes maintaining pressure on sanctions."
Macron, Merz and Starmer will host a virtual meeting of the "coalition of the willing" - a grouping of allies of Kyiv - from 1300 GMT on Sunday. Von der Leyen will host Zelenskiy in Brussels from where the two leaders will also dial in.
European powers want to help set up a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskiy to make sure Ukraine has a seat at the table to shape its future.
They also want security guarantees for Ukraine with U.S. involvement, and the ability to crank up pressure on Moscow if needed.
"They will spell out what they consider essential in terms of security guarantees: what they can do themselves, what falls to the coalition of volunteers, and also what they expect from the United States," a European government official said. "Indeed, they expect a very robust commitment."
Trump said on Friday that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not".
After the Alaska summit with Putin, Trump phoned Zelenskiy and told him that the Kremlin chief had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow's main targets, a source familiar with the matter said.
Zelenskiy rejected the demand, the source said. Russia already controls a fifth of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk province, which it first entered in 2014.
Trump also said he agreed with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies have called for. That was a reversal of his position before the summit, when he said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on.
Zelenskiy said Russia's unwillingness to pause the fighting would complicate efforts to forge a lasting peace. "Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war," he said on X.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been gradually advancing for months.
In his statement after the Alaska summit, Putin signalled no movement in Russia's long-held demands, which also include a veto on Kyiv's desired membership in the NATO alliance.
He also warned Ukraine and its European allies not to "create any obstacles. That they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue."
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