KYIV, Ukraine (AP) โ European and NATO leaders announced Sunday they will join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for talks with President Donald Trump about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. They are rallying around theย Ukrainianย leader after his exclusion fromย Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The remarkable show of solidarity โ with leaders from France, Britain and Germany saying they would be at Zelenskyy’s side at the White House on Monday โ was an apparent effort to ensure theย meetingย goes better than the last one in February, whenย Trumpย berated Zelenskyyย in a heated Oval Office encounter.
โThe Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,โ said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of Franceโs military mission at the United Nations.
โIt’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he said.
The European leadersโ physical presence to demonstrate their support for Ukraine could potentially help ease concerns in Kyiv and in other European capitals that Ukraine risks being railroaded into a peace deal that Trump says he wants to broker with Russia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on X that she will take part in the talks, โat the requestโ of Zelenskyy. The secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, Mark Rutte, will also take part in the meeting, his press service said.
The office of President Emmanuel Macron said the French leader will travel โat the side of President Zelenskyyโ and that he, too, would visit the White House. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also take part in the meeting with Trump, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will also be part of the European group. Writing on X, he said he would discuss security guarantees, territorial issues, and further support for Ukraine.
The grouped trip underscored European leaders’ determination to ensure that Europe has a voice in Trump’s attempted peace-making, after the U.S. president’s summit on Friday with Putin โ to which Zelenskyy wasn’t invited.
Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said European leaders are trying to โshape this fast-evolving agenda.โ After the Alaska summit, the idea of a ceasefire appears all-but-abandoned, with the narrative shifting towards Putinโs agenda of ensuring Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBCโs โMeet the Pressโ on Sunday that a possible ceasefore is โnot off the tableโ but that the best way to end the war would be through a โfull peace deal.โ
Putin has implied that he sees Europe as a hindrance to negotiations. He has also resisted meeting Zelenskyy in person, saying that such a meeting can only take place once the groundwork for a peace deal has been laid.
Speaking to the press after his meeting with Trump, the Russian leader raised the idea that Kyiv and other European capitals could โcreate obstaclesโ to derail potential progress with โbehind-the-scenes intrigue.โ
For now, Zelenskyy offers the Europeans the โonly wayโ to get into the discussions about the future of Ukraine and European security, says RUSI’s Melvin.
However, the sheer number of European leaders potentially in attendance means the group will have to be โmindfulโ not to give โcontradictoryโ messages, Melvin said.
โThe risk is they look heavy-handed and are ganging up on Trump,โ he added. โTrump wonโt want to be put in a corner.โ
