European and NATO leaders announced on Sunday they will join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump , on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine , with the possibility of US security guarantees now on the negotiating table.

Their pledge to be at Zelenskyy’s side at the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to ensure the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office encounter.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, Friday, February 28, 2025 (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

“The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,” said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations.

“It’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he said in a phone interview.

Special US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Putin agreed at the meeting in Alaska with Trump to allow the US and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defence mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the three-and-a-half-year war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Zelenskyy, said “we welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine. And the ‘Coalition of the willing’ – including the European Union – is ready to do its share.”

Von der Leyen was joined on Sunday by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in saying they will take part in Monday’s talks at the White House, as will secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, Mark Rutte.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greet each other in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The European leaders’ demonstration of support could 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.

Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said European leaders are trying to “shape this fast-evolving agenda.”

After the Alaska summit, the idea of a ceasefire appears all-but-abandoned, with the narrative shifting toward Putin’s agenda of ensuring Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that a possible ceasefire is “not off the table” but that the best way to end the war would be through a “full peace deal”.

US President Trump And Russian President Putin (L) listens to U.S. President Donald Trump (R) during their meeing on war in Ukraine at U.S. Air Base In Alaska on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Putin is having a one-day trip to Alaska. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images) (Getty)

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 “create obstacles” to derail potential progress with “behind-the-scenes intrigue”.

For now, Zelenskyy offers the Europeans the “only way” 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 “mindful” not to give “contradictory” messages, Melvin said.

“The risk is they look heavy-handed and are ganging up on Trump,” he added.

“Trump won’t want to be put in a corner.”

Although details remain hazy on what Article 5-like security guarantees from the US and Europe would entail for Ukraine, it could mirror NATO membership terms, in which an attack on one member of the alliance is seen as an attack on all.

Zelenskyy continues to stress the importance of both US and European involvement in any negotiations. (Getty)

In remarks made on CNN’s State of the Union , Witkoff said Friday’s meeting with Trump was the first time Putin has been had heard to agree to such an arrangement.

Zelenskyy continues to stress the importance of both US and European involvement in any negotiations.

“A security guarantee is a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that. Only Europe can finance this army, and weapons for this army can be provided by our domestic production and European production. But there are certain things that are in short supply and are only available in the United States,” he said at the press conference on Sunday alongside Von der Leyen.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European and NATO leaders announced Sunday they will join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington to present a united front in talks with President Donald Trump on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine and firming up U.S. security guarantees now on the negotiating table.

Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland are rallying around the Ukrainian president after his exclusion from Trump’s summit on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their pledge to be at Zelenskyy’s side at the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to ensure the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office encounter.

“The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,” said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations.

“It’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he said.

Putin agreed at his summit in Alaska with Trump that the U.S. and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

It “was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,” said Witkoff, who called it “game-changing.”

Later, French President Emmanuel Macron said the European delegation will ask Trump to back plans they drafted to beef-up Ukraine’s armed forces — already Europe’s largest outside of Russia — with more training and equipment to secure any peace.

“We need a credible format for the Ukrainian army, that’s the first point, and say — we Europeans and Americans — how we’ll train them, equip them, and finance this effort in the long-term,” the French leader said.

The European-drafted plans also envision an allied force in Ukraine away from the front lines to reassure Kyiv that peace will hold and to dissuade another Russian invasion, Macron said. He spoke after a nearly two-hour video call Sunday with nations in Europe and further afield — including Canada, Australia and Japan — that are involved in the so-called “coalition of the willing.”

The “several thousand men on the ground in Ukraine in the zone of peace” would signal that “our fates are linked,” Macron said.

“This is what we must discuss with the Americans: Who is ready to do what?” Macron said. “Otherwise, I think the Ukrainians simply cannot accept commitments that are theoretical.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier at a news conference in Brussels with Zelenskyy that “we welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine. And the ‘coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share.”

Macron said the substance of security guarantees will be more important than whether they are given an Article 5-type label.

“A theoretical article isn’t enough, the question is one of substance,” he said. “We must start out by saying that the first of the security guarantees for Ukraine is a strong Ukrainian army.”

Along with Von der Leyen and Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb also said they’ll will take part in Monday’s talks, as will secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, Mark Rutte.

The European leaders’ support could help ease concerns in Kyiv and in other European capitals that Ukraine risks being railroaded into a peace deal.

Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said European leaders are trying to “shape this fast-evolving agenda.” After the Alaska summit, the idea of a ceasefire appears all-but-abandoned, with the narrative shifting toward Putin’s agenda of ensuring Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that a possible ceasefire is “not off the table” but that the best way to end the war would be through a “full peace deal.”

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 “create obstacles” to derail potential progress with “behind-the-scenes intrigue.”

For now, Zelenskyy offers the Europeans the “only way” 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 “mindful” not to give “contradictory” messages, Melvin said.

“The risk is they look heavy-handed and are ganging up on Trump,” he added. “Trump won’t want to be put in a corner.”

Although details remain hazy on what Article 5-like security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe would entail for Ukraine, it could mirror NATO membership terms, in which an attack on one member of the alliance is seen as an attack on all.

Zelenskyy continues to stress the importance of both U.S. and European involvement in any negotiations.

“A security guarantee is a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that. Only Europe can finance this army, and weapons for this army can be provided by our domestic production and European production. But there are certain things that are in short supply and are only available in the United States,” he said at the press conference Sunday alongside Von der Leyen.

Zelenskyy also pushed back against Trump’s assertion — which aligned with Putin’s preference — that the two sides should negotiate a complete end to the war, rather than first securing a ceasefire. Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would provide breathing room to review Putin’s demands.

“It’s impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons,” he said. “Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it.”

— Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Associated Press writers Pan Pylas in London, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

Ukraine and its European allies have criticised Putin’s stance on the war after the Alaska summit as a way to buy time.

European leaders will join 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.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia’s invasion, had been one of Trump’s core demands before Friday’s Alaska summit, to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited.

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’s collective defence mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.

“We 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,” 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.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, speaking in Brussels on Sunday after meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in person and other European leaders virtually, said the current front lines of the war should be the basis for peace talks.

“We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now,” 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.

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

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.

Ukraine and its European allies have criticised Putin’s stance as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances, and they have expressed unease over Trump’s land swap proposal from the outset.

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’s President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and von der Leyen will accompany Zelenskyy to Washington, DC.

“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 trip to the US capital. “This includes maintaining pressure on sanctions.”

The goal for Monday’s talks in Washington is to present a united front between Ukraine and its European allies, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. “If we show weakness today in front of Russia, we are laying the ground for future conflicts,” he said.

Macron said Kyiv’s allies in Sunday’s “coalition of the willing” meeting, which leaders joined by video before heading to Washington, wanted strong and lasting peace in Ukraine and for Ukraine’s territorial integrity to be respected.

Strength and safety in numbers appear to be factors in the group visit, with memories still fresh about the hostile reception 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 “disrespectful”.

No land swaps

While Zelenskyy has welcomed Trump’s efforts to end the war, in a post on social media on Saturday, he warned that “it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades”.

The Ukrainian president has also repeatedly reiterated that Kyiv will not swap any of its land to attain a ceasefire. Ukraine’s constitution forbids the ceding of territory.

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According to Zelenskyy, Putin has asked that Russia be handed over all of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a third of which Kyiv still holds.

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.

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian president said that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier” and pointed out that he doesn’t have the authority to sign off on land swaps. He said that changing Ukraine’s 1991 borders runs counter to the country’s constitution.

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” and “that they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue”.

Trilateral summit in the works?

The diplomatic focus now switches to Zelenskyy’s talks at the White House on Monday with the European leaders in tow.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said getting to a peace agreement would still take a lot of work.

“We’re not at the precipice of a peace agreement,” he said. “We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remain some big areas of disagreement. So we’re still a long ways off.”

“Now, ultimately, if there isn’t a peace agreement, if there isn’t an end of this war, the president’s been clear, there are going to be consequences,” Rubio told the ABC News programme This Week. “But we’re trying to avoid that. And the way we’re trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.”

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Brussels, said Ukraine and the European Union were “walking a fine line” 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.

Zelenskyy and von der Leyen were intentionally vague when asked about a ceasefire, which they had long cast as a prerequisite for further talks, saying that terminology did not matter.

“They are waiting to hear what Trump is going to offer tomorrow in DC,” Ahelbarra said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flies to Washington on Monday under heavy U.S. pressure to agree to a swift end to Russia’s war in his country, but determined to defend Kyiv’s interests — without sparking a second Oval Office dust-up with Donald Trump.

European and NATO leaders announced Sunday they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for Monday’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the possibility of U.S. security guarantees now on the negotiating table.

European leaders, including heavyweights France, Britain and Germany, are rallying around the Ukrainian leader after his exclusion from Trump’s summit in Alaska on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Their pledge to be at Zelenskyy’s side at the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to ensure the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office encounter.

“The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,” said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations.

“It’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he said.

WATCH | Trump says Putin meeting was ‘very productive’: Trump calls meeting with Putin ‘very productive’ U.S. President Donald Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on many points during their talks Friday about the war in Ukraine, but about any formal agreement, he said, ‘We haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal.’

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Putin agreed in Alaska to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defence mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Zelenskyy, said: “We welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine. And the ‘coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share.”

Canada is also a member of this coalition.

Macron, Starmer among leaders to join talks

Von der Leyen was joined Sunday by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb in saying they will take part in Monday’s talks at the White House, as will secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, Mark Rutte.

The European leaders’ demonstration of support could 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.

Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said European leaders are trying to “shape this fast-evolving agenda.” After the Alaska summit, the idea of a ceasefire appears all-but-abandoned, with the narrative shifting toward Putin’s agenda of ensuring Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU.

WATCH | Putin has warning for European countries following Alaska meeting: Putin has warning for Europe Russian President Vladimir Putin, following his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska Friday, said he hoped that Kyiv and other European capitals would not ‘throw a wrench’ into their work.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that a possible ceasefire is “not off the table” but that the best way to end the war would be through a “full peace deal.”

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 “create obstacles” to derail potential progress with “behind-the-scenes intrigue.”

For now, Zelenskyy offers the Europeans the “only way” 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 “mindful” not to give “contradictory” messages, Melvin said.

“The risk is they look heavy-handed and are ganging up on Trump,” he added. “Trump won’t want to be put in a corner.”

Zelenskyy stresses U.S., European role in talks

Although details remain hazy on what Article 5-like security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe would entail for Ukraine, it could mirror NATO membership terms, in which an attack on one member of the alliance is seen as an attack on all.

In remarks made on CNN’s State of the Union, Witkoff said Friday’s meeting with Trump was the first time Putin had been heard to agree to such an arrangement.

Zelenskyy continues to stress the importance of both U.S. and European involvement in any negotiations.

“A security guarantee is a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that,” he said at Sunday’s news conference alongside von der Leyen. “Only Europe can finance this army, and weapons for this army can be provided by our domestic production and European production.

“But there are certain things that are in short supply and are only available in the United States.”

Zelenskyy also pushed back against Trump’s assertion — which aligned with Putin’s preference — that the two sides should negotiate a complete end to the war, rather than first securing a ceasefire. Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would provide breathing room to review Putin’s demands.

“It’s impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons,” he said. “Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it.”

Zelenskyy lays out Ukraine’s stance on key issues

Zelenskyy has followed up his previous statement (see 17.28 post) with a lengthy X thread further outlining Ukraine’s position.

In the posts, he addresses issues including a possible ceasefire, whether Ukraine could cede land to Russia and the importance of security guarantees.

Here’s what he said on each topic…

Pressing the importance of a ceasefire – and claiming Russia isn’t willing:

“It’s necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We’ll talk about it in Washington, DC. Putin does not want to stop the killings. But he must do it.”

Reiterating he can’t give up land:

“Ukraine’s Constitution makes it impossible to give up or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral — Ukraine, the US, Russia.

“So far, Russia gives no sign this will happen, and if Russia refuses, new sanctions must follow.”

On security guarantees:

“It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and therefore for all of Europe.

“This is a significant change, but there are no details how it will work—what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be, what the EU can do. We need security to work in practice, like Article 5 of NATO.”