7 European leaders to join Zelensky in White House meeting Monday

UPI

2 days ago

1 of 2 | European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday. Photo by Olivier Hoslety/EPA
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Seven European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday in a bid to end the war against Russia.
Zelensky and Trump announced the meeting on Saturday. On Sunday, it was disclosed they will be joined by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Zelensky last saw Trump in the White House on Feb. 23. During the contentious meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of "gambling with World War III" and being "disrespectful" to the United States. Plans for a cease-fire and a news conference were called off.
Two months later, the two leaders met amicably when they went to the funeral for Pope Franic at the Vatican on April 26.
Zelensky and von der Leyen met in Brussel, Belgium, on Sunday, joining a "coalition of willing," who are Ukraine's main European allies, in a video conference.
European leaders on Saturday signed a joint statement that, "as President Trump said, 'there's no deal until there's a deal.' As envisioned by President Trump, the next step must now be further talks, including President Zelenskyy, whom he will meet soon."
In addition to the attendee's of Monday's meeting in Washington, the statement was signed by European Council President Antonio Costa and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight -- Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden -- said in a statement that there should be "no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine and no decisions on Europe without Europe."
Trump posted Sunday morning on Truth Social "BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED."
Minutes earlier, he also criticized the media in two posts, writing that "if I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal. That's why they are the FAKE NEWS! Also, they should talk about the 6 WARS, etc., I JUST STOPPED!!! MAGA."
Earlier, he wrote that "it's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me. There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me. I had a great meeting in Alaska on Biden's stupid War, a war that should have never happened!!!"
It had been more than 24 hours since he posted about the war in Ukraine.
After speaking with Zelensky and European leaders following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, he wrote that "it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."
This stance shifted to an end to the 3 1/2-year-old war that began with Russia's invasion of the sovereign nation.
Zelensky was not invited to the summit with the two leaders.
CNN reported Trump told the Europeans he wants a summit among himself, Putin and Zelensky on Friday if talks go well on Monday with Ukraine's leader.
Information from Putin and Trump has been light on details. They spoke to reporters for a total of 12 minutes and took no questions on Friday.
They didn't mention whether Russia or Ukraine will give up land acquired during the war.
The three-on-three meeting included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also is Trump's national security adviser, as well as Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff.
"The point was that we began to see some moderation in the way they're thinking about getting to a final peace deal," Witkoff said in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. "We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other ingredients necessary for a peace deal that we, that President Trump pivoted to that place."
Putin spoke about "land swaps" during the meeting, Witkoff said.
Witkoff said that Putin discussed land swaps during their meeting, but did not go into specifics beyond that Putin now suggesting swaps occur at the current front lines rather than the administrative boundaries of at least some of the regions.
"The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions," Witkoff said. "Hopefully, we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there."
The Trump administration has said it is up to Zelensky to accept a deal, and noted that Zelensky has opposed land swaps.
Trump told the European leaders that Putin insists Ukraine allow Russia to totally control the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine where intense fighting has taken place since 2022, two sources told The New York Times. In exchange, he would freeze the current front lines elsewhere in Ukraine -- the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- and promised not to attack Ukraine again or other European nation.
Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk, which represents 30% of the eastern region. Russia had partially seized the Donbas in 2014 when the nation annexed the Crimean peninsula and captured key areas of the region in 2022.
Witkoff also said Putin agreed to allow a collective defense provision for Ukraine in a peace deal.
For the first time, Witkoff said Putin offered a version of NATO's Article 5 provision -- that the groups members will come to the defense of an ally under attack -- with Ukraine, but without involvement from NATO.
"We got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee," Witkoff said on CNN.
"Putin has said that a red flag is NATO admission," Witkoff said. And so what we were discussing was assuming that that held, assuming that the Ukrainians could agree to that and could live with that - and everything is going to be about what the Ukrainians can live with - but assuming they could, we were able to win the following concession that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection."
Putin hasn't spoken directly about aspects of a possible peace deal.
Zelensky thanked the European nations' support since the beginning of the war in February 2025, and said "sanctions show we are serious."
"We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now," Zelensky said at a news conference with the EU's von der Leyen. "The contact line is the best line for talking [...] Russia is still unsuccessful in Donetsk region. Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land.
"Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia and the trilateral Ukraine-United States-Russia. So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow."
Zelensky said he wanted more clarity on the "security guarantees" from Trump.
Unlike Trump, Zelensky has urged a ceasefire before a peace deal.
"First we have to stop the killings," Zelensky said. "Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them, and if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all.
"It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it's necessary to cease-fire and work quickly on a final deal. We'll talk about it in Washington. Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it," the Ukrainian president said.
Von der Leyen, noting Ukraine must become a "steel porcupine, undigestible for potential invaders," said there must be no limitations on Ukraine's military.
"We must have strong security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe's vital security interests. Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty and its territorial integrity," she said.
Situation in Ukraine
Russia continued aerial attacks overnight with five people dead and at least 11 injured in Ukraine's Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, local authorities said.
Russia launched 60 long-range drones and one ballistic missile, according to Ukraine's Air Force, as 40 other drones were downed by Ukrainian defenses.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said 46 drones were intercepted from Ukraine. One person was injured in Russia's Voronzh region from debris, the local governor said.
In central Kyiv at a market, the BBC reported few people were hopeful about the meeting on Monday.
"The signs don't tell us about good expectations for tomorrow," said 35-year-old Iryna Levchuk while picking fruit and with her dog Susy, rescued from the frontline city of Kherson.
Regarding a land swap, Dmitril said: "This won't work -- none of this will work. You've got to explain to the people that they need to negotiate with the terrorists."