European leaders are joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday in a bid to end the ongoing Russian invasion. This development follows earlier reports that President Donald Trump had abandoned his push for a ceasefire after an unsuccessful meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia’s invasion, was initially one of Trump’s primary prerequisites before the summit, a meeting to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited. However, after the meeting yielded no breakthrough, Trump ruled out an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. This move seems to favor Putin, who has long advocated for negotiations on a final peace agreement.
The leaders journeying to Washington on Monday include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Their goal: to persuade Trump to reconsider his stance on the conflict.
Ukraine and its European allies criticized Putin’s perspective, depicting it as a strategy to stall and perpetuate Russia’s battlefield gains. Trump’s change of tack, arguing that ceasefire agreements “oftentimes do not hold up,” has not swayed Zelenskyy, who maintains that it “complicates the situation.”
Meanwhile, European leaders have expressed unease over Trump’s outreach to Putin from the outset. Reports indicate that during a call with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump voiced support for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two eastern Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others. This raises important questions about the future of the conflict and the regional balance of power.
The diplomatic focus now switches to Zelenskyy’s talks at the White House on Monday with the European leaders. Previous encounters have been fraught, with Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid during one infamous Oval Office visit.
As the conflict in Ukraine continues unabated, with both Kyiv and Moscow launching attack drones at each other, the European and Ukrainian leaders’ visit to Washington takes on greater urgency.