Ukraine, European leaders to meet Trump after Putin talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting on war in Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

European leaders want to ensure Trump is not 'swayed by his obvious personal rapport' with Putin

(Image credit: Getty Images)

What happened

European and NATO leaders said Sunday they would accompany Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House as he meets with President Donald Trump today following Trump's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Trump went into the Alaska summit demanding that Putin agree to a ceasefire but left siding with Russia's proposal to proceed to full peace talks.

Who said what

After his disastrous meeting with Trump in February, Zelenskyy is heading to the White House "with backup," The New York Times said. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, NATO and the European Commission "are flying in" to "make sure that a viable, defensible Ukraine survives whatever carving up of its territory is about to happen at the negotiating table."

Trump and his team initially disclosed few details about Friday's summit, but according to Reuters, sources familiar with the Kremlin's thinking said Putin proposed that "Russia would relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine and Kyiv would cede swathes of its eastern land which Moscow has been unable to capture." Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN Sunday that Russia also made an important "concession": that the U.S. "could offer Article 5-like protection" to Kyiv, "which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO."

Trump last night said on social media that there was "NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE" and Zelenskyy "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to." The Trump team's "fresh, if still vague, support for providing security guarantees" has narrowed one "gap" with Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal said, but a "chasm over Moscow’s territorial demands remains," making for "treacherous" diplomatic terrain at today's meeting.

What next?

The European leaders are "determined" to hammer out "'cast-iron' security guarantees" for Ukraine at today's meeting, the BBC said, and to ensure Trump "is not being swayed by his obvious personal rapport" with Putin "into giving in to the Russian leaders' demands."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.