European leaders to join the Zelenskyy meeting with Trump in an apparent demonstration of support

European and NATO leaders announced on Sunday that they would join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for Monday talks with American president Donald Trump to end the Russian war in Ukraine, with the possibility of American security guarantees now on the negotiation table.

European leaders, including the heavyweights of France, Great Britain and Germany, rallied around the Ukrainian chief after his exclusion from the Trump summit in Alaska on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Their commitment to be alongside Zelenskyy in the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to make sure that the meeting takes place better than the last in February, when Trump reprimanded Zelenskyy in a heated meeting of the oval office.

“Europeans are very afraid of the rehearsal of the scene of oval offices, and they therefore want to support Mr. Zelenskyy in the handle,” said the retired general, Dominique Trinquand, former head of the military mission of France at the United Nations.

“It is a power struggle and a position of force that could work with Trump,” he said.

Look | Trump says Putin’s meeting was “very productive”:

Trump calls the meeting with “very productive” Putin

US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on many points during their talks on the war in Ukraine on Friday, but on any official agreement, he said: “ We are not entirely there, but we have made progress. There is therefore no agreement as long as there is no agreement.

The American special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Putin had agreed in Alaska to allow the American and European allies to offer in Ukraine a security guarantee resembling the collective mandate of NATO defense as part of a possible agreement to end the three and a half years war.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, speaking during a press conference in Brussels with Zelenskyy, said: “We welcome the will of President Trump to contribute to type 5 security guarantees for Ukraine. And the coalition of volunteers ” – including the European Union – is ready to do its part.”

Canada is also a member of this coalition. In a Sunday afternoon statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had participated in a virtual meeting with the coalition alongside Zelenskyy.

“The Prime Minister joined other people in the coalition to welcome both President Trump’s management in the possibility of ending the Russian War in Ukraine, and when the United States is opening up to complete the support of the coalition for long-term peace and security for Ukraine and Europe,” said Carney in the press release.

He said Canada is coordinating closely with Ukraine and the Allies to “intensify” its support for Ukraine.

“Current diplomatic engagement must be reinforced by continuous military and economic pressures on Russia to end its attack,” said Carney. “In the end, the long-term peace and security of Ukraine must be supported by a strong Ukrainian armed forces, supplemented by robust and credible security guarantees of the coalition of devices and the United States.”

Macron, Starmer among the leaders to join the talks

Von der Leyen was joined on Sunday by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb saying that they would participate in the talks on Monday in the White House, as was the secretary general of NATO Mark Rutte.

The demonstration of support by European leaders could help to alleviate concerns to kyiv and in other European capitals that Ukraine is likely to be closed in a peace agreement that Trump says that he wants to negotiate with Russia.

Neil Melvin, director of international security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), based in London, said that European leaders were trying to “shape this rapid development program”. After the Alaska summit, the idea of a cease-fire appears almost abandoned, the story moving towards the Putin agenda to make sure that Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU.

Look | Putin has a warning for European countries after the Alaska meeting:

Putin has a warning for Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin, following his interviews with American President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday, said that he hoped that kyiv and other European capitals would not “throw a key” in their work.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC Meet the press On Sunday, a possible ceasefire is “not outside the table” but that the best way to end the war would be by a “complete peace agreement”.

Putin suggested that he considered Europe as an obstacle to negotiations. He also resisted to meet Zelenskyy in person, affirming that such a meeting can only take place once the bases of a peace agreement.

Addressing the press after meeting Trump, the Russian chief raised the idea that kyiv and other European capitals could “create obstacles” to derail potential progress with “the intrigue behind the scenes”.

For the moment, Zelenskyy offers Europeans the “only means” to participate in the discussions on the future of Ukraine and European security, said Melvin de Rusi.

However, the large number of European leaders potentially present means that the group will have to be “aware” not to give “contradictory,” he said.

“The risk is that they seem heavy and smoothed on Trump,” said Melvin. “Trump will not want to be put in a corner.”

Zelenskyy underlines the United States, the European role in talks

Although the details remain foggy about type 5 security guarantees in the United States and Europe would imply for Ukraine, it could reflect the terms of membership in the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty, in which an attack on a member of the Alliance is considered an attack on all.

In the remarks made on CNN Union stateWitkoff said Friday’s meeting with Trump was the first time that Putin was heard to accept such a arrangement.

Zelenskyy continues to underline the importance of the involvement of the United States and Europe in any negotiation.

“A security guarantee is a solid army. Only Ukraine can provide it,” he said at the Sunday’s press conference alongside Von Der Leyen. “Only Europe can finance this army, and weapons for this army can be provided by our domestic production and our European production.” But there are certain things that are not able and are only available in the United States. “”

Zelenskyy also postponed Trump’s assertion – who aligned himself on Putin’s preference – that the two parties should negotiate a full end in war, rather than obtaining a ceasefire first. The Ukrainian chief said that a cease-fire would provide a breathing room to examine Putin’s requests.

“It is impossible to do it under the pressure of arms,” he said. “Putin does not want to stop the murder, but he has to do it.”