{"id":351870,"date":"2025-08-17T14:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T14:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/351870\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T14:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T14:55:13","slug":"european-leaders-to-shore-up-ukraines-zelenskyy-for-dc-talks-with-trump-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/351870\/","title":{"rendered":"European leaders to shore up Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy for DC talks with Trump | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"

European leaders will join<\/a> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Washington, DC on Monday, seeking an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, after United States President Donald Trump dropped both his push for a ceasefire and the threat of punitive actions against Russia following his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>, had been one of Trump\u2019s core demands before Friday\u2019s Alaska summit<\/a>, to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited.<\/p>\n

Special US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Putin agreed at the summit with Trump to allow the US and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO\u2019s collective defence mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1\/2-year war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,\u201d he said on the CNN news programme State of the Union. Witkoff said it was the first time he had heard Putin agree to that.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy, speaking in Brussels on Sunday after meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the current front lines of the war should be the basis for peace talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding that European leaders support this and reiterating his long-held position that it was necessary to establish a ceasefire in order to then negotiate a final deal.<\/p>\n

But after the summit on Friday with Putin yielded no clear breakthrough, Trump ruled out an immediate ceasefire \u2013 a move that aligns with Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal.<\/p>\n

According to a New York Times report, after his meeting with Putin, the US president also told European leaders that he had offered to support a plan to end the war that involved Ukraine giving up parts of its territory to Russia.<\/p>\n

Ukraine and its European allies have criticised Putin\u2019s stance as a way to buy time and press Russia\u2019s battlefield advances, and they have expressed unease<\/a> over Trump\u2019s land swap proposal from the outset.<\/p>\n

In an effort to try show a firm, united front to the US president in White House talks on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finland\u2019s President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and von der Leyen will accompany Zelenskyy to Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe talks will address, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression,\u201d the German government said in a statement about the trip to the US capital. \u201cThis includes maintaining pressure on sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the visit, von der Leyen said on X that she would welcome Zelenskyy for a meeting in Brussels on Sunday, which other European leaders would join by video, before accompanying the Ukrainian leader on his US trip at his \u201crequest\u201d and with \u201cother European leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

This afternoon, I will welcome @ZelenskyyUa<\/a> in Brussels.<\/p>\n

Together, we will participate in the Coalition of Willing VTC. <\/p>\n

At the request of President Zelenskyy, I will join the meeting with President Trump and other European leaders in the White House tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Strength and safety in numbers appear to be factors in the group visit, with memories still fresh about the hostile reception<\/a> Zelenskyy received in February from Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance in a public White House dressing-down, castigating the Ukrainian leader as being ungrateful and \u201cdisrespectful\u201d.<\/p>\n

No land swaps<\/p>\n

While Zelenskyy has welcomed Trump\u2019s efforts to end the war, in a post on social media on Saturday, he warned that \u201cit may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater \u2013 peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian president has also repeatedly reiterated that Kyiv will not swap any of its land to attain a ceasefire. Ukraine\u2019s constitution forbids the ceding of territory.<\/p>\n

According to<\/a> Zelenskyy, Putin has asked that Russia be handed over all of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk region, a third of which Kyiv still holds.<\/p>\n

In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian president said that\u00a0 \u201cUkrainians will not give their land to the occupier\u201d and\u00a0pointed out that he doesn\u2019t have the authority to sign off on land swaps. He said that changing Ukraine\u2019s 1991 borders runs counter to the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been gradually advancing for months.<\/p>\n

In his statement after the Alaska summit, Putin signalled no movement in Russia\u2019s long-held demands, which also include a veto on Kyiv\u2019s desired membership in the NATO alliance.<\/p>\n

He also warned Ukraine and its European allies not to \u201ccreate any obstacles\u201d and \u201cthat they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trilateral summit in the works?<\/p>\n

The diplomatic focus now switches to Zelenskyy\u2019s talks at the White House on Monday with the European leaders in tow.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said getting to a peace agreement would still take a lot of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not at the precipice of a peace agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement. So we\u2019re still a long ways off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, ultimately, if there isn\u2019t a peace agreement, if there isn\u2019t an end of this war, the president\u2019s been clear, there are going to be consequences,\u201d he told ABC\u2019s \u2018This Week.\u2019 \u201cBut we\u2019re trying to avoid that. And the way we\u2019re trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Brussels, said Ukraine and the EU were \u201cwalking a fine line\u201d during the press conference. While attempting to show a united front, they were also mindful of avoiding any strong statements that could further upset the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy and Von der Leyen where intentionally vague when asked about a ceasefire \u2013 which they had long cast a prerequisite for further talks \u2013 saying that terminology did not matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are waiting to hear what Trump is going to offer tomorrow in DC,\u201d Ahelbarra said.<\/p>\n