European Leaders to Join Zelensky in Washington Meeting

European leaders are set to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday, as international efforts continue to find a way to end Russia’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine.

Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, but the talks failed to yield any breakthrough on a ceasefire. White House envoy Steve Witkoff stated that both leaders had agreed to provide “robust security guarantees” to Ukraine.

Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission chief, welcomed the announcement, while Zelensky, speaking alongside her at a news conference in Brussels, rejected the idea that Russia could offer security guarantees to his country.

“What President Trump said about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin’s thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees,”
— Zelensky

Zelensky later described the US offer of security guarantees as “historic” on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron, attending the Washington meeting alongside von der Leyen and other European leaders, stated that they would question the scope of security guarantees offered to Ukraine in any peace agreement.

“There is only one state proposing a peace that would be a capitulation: Russia,”
— Macron

In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Macron’s statement an “abject lie” on Telegram, emphasising that Moscow had been advocating a “peaceful resolution” under the Minsk Accords for seven years. She added that Macron was misleading Ukraine about the possibility of battlefield victory.

Following the Alaska meeting, Trump shifted focus from a ceasefire to a peace deal, posting on Truth Social “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!”

Zelensky indicated that he sees no sign Putin is willing to participate in a three-way summit with him and Trump.

The leaders heading to Washington, calling themselves the “coalition of the willing”, include:

On Sunday, they held a video conference to coordinate their joint position.

“I’m hopeful that we have a productive meeting on Monday, we get to real consensus, we’re able to come back to the Russians and push this peace deal forward and get it done,”
— Steve Witkoff, White House envoy

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that failure to reach a peace deal could bring “consequences”, including potential new sanctions on Russia.

European leaders have been wary of Trump’s outreach to Putin, who demands Ukraine abandon its EU and NATO ambitions. They were excluded from the Alaska summit.

Witkoff noted that offering “game-changing” security guarantees may involve territorial concessions. According to an official briefed on a call between Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders, the US supported a Russian proposal in which Moscow would take full control of two eastern Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontlines in two others.

• Russia demands that Ukraine cede Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk), partially controlled by Russian forces.
• In return, Russia would halt its offensive in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Ukrainian forces still control the main cities.

Despite Russia’s September 2022 claim to have annexed four Ukrainian regions, its troops do not fully control any of them.

“The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas,”
— official source

Meanwhile, hostilities continue in Ukraine. Both Kyiv and Moscow have launched attack drones in recent operations. Ukrainian authorities reported early Monday that 13 people were wounded in Russian strikes on Kharkiv and the Sumy region.

The situation remains tense, with the outcome of the upcoming Washington talks potentially shaping Ukraine’s security guarantees and territorial integrity.