European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen shakes palms with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels, Belgium, the place he’ll take part in a gathering of European leaders, on Aug. 17, 2025.
Bart Biesemans | Reuters
European leaders will be part of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to satisfy Donald Trump in Washington, they stated on Sunday, in search of to shore up Zelenskyy’s place because the U.S. president presses Ukraine to just accept a fast peace deal to finish Europe’s deadliest struggle in 80 years.
Trump is leaning on Zelenskyy to strike an settlement after he met Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged extra aligned with Moscow on in search of a peace deal as a substitute of a ceasefire first. Trump and Zelenskyy will meet on Monday.
“If peace is just not going to be doable right here and that is simply going to proceed on as a struggle, folks will proceed to die by the 1000’s … we might sadly wind up there, however we do not need to wind up there,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in an interview with CBS.
Trump on Sunday promised “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA” in a social media put up with out specifying what this may be.
Sources briefed on Moscow’s considering instructed Reuters the U.S. and Russian leaders have mentioned proposals for Russia to relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine in change for Kyiv ceding a swathe of fortified land within the east and freezing the entrance traces elsewhere.
High Trump officers hinted the destiny of Ukraine’s jap Donbas area — which includes Donetsk and Luhansk and which is already largely below Russian management — was on the road, whereas some type of defensive pact was additionally on the desk.
“We have been in a position to win the next concession, that the US may provide Article 5-like safety,” Trump envoy Steve Witkoff instructed CNN on Sunday, suggesting this is able to be in lieu of Ukraine in search of NATO membership. He stated it was “the primary time we had ever heard the Russians comply with that.”
Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty enshrines the precept of collective protection, the notion that an assault on a single member is taken into account an assault on all of them.
That pledge is probably not sufficient to sway leaders in Kyiv to signal over Donbas. Ukraine’s borders have been already meant to have been assured when Ukraine surrendered a Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in 1994, and it proved to be little deterrent when Russia absorbed Crimea in 2014 after which launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The struggle has now dragged on for 3-1/2 years and killed or wounded greater than 1 million folks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a gathering of allies on Sunday to bolster Zelenskyy’s hand, hoping particularly to lock down strong safety ensures for Ukraine that would come with a U.S. position.
The Europeans are eager to assist Zelenskyy keep away from a repeat of his final Oval Workplace assembly in February. That went disastrously, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance giving the Ukrainian chief a public dressing-down, accusing him of being ungrateful and disrespectful.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen may even journey to Washington, as will Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, whose entry to Trump included rounds of golf in Florida earlier this 12 months, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who’s an admirer of lots of Trump’s insurance policies.
European present of unity
European leaders on the Sunday assembly projected unity, welcoming U.S. speak of a safety assure however stressing no discussions over territory may happen with out Kyiv’s involvement and clear preparations to safeguard the remainder of Ukraine’s land.
Some known as for a right away ceasefire, one thing Trump initially stated he was attempting to safe throughout his summit with Putin. Trump later modified course and agreed with the Russians that peace negotiations may come and not using a ceasefire, an concept that was dismissed by a few of Ukraine’s European allies.
“You can’t negotiate peace below falling bombs,” Poland’s international ministry stated in a press release.
A joint communique launched by Britain, France and Germany after the assembly stated their leaders have been prepared “to deploy a reassurance pressure as soon as hostilities have ceased, and to assist safe Ukraine’s skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces.”
Some European international locations, led by Britain and France, have been working since final 12 months on such a plan, however different international locations within the area stay reluctant to turn into concerned militarily, underlining how fraught peace discussions are even amongst Kyiv’s allies.
Zelenskyy stated on social media platform X that there had been “clear assist for Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty” on the assembly. “Everybody agrees that borders should not be modified by pressure.”
He added that any potential safety ensures “should actually be very sensible, delivering safety on land, within the air, and at sea, and have to be developed with Europe’s participation.”
Rubio stated each Russia and Ukraine would want to make concessions to succeed in a peace deal and that safety ensures for Ukraine can be mentioned on Monday. He additionally stated there must be further penalties for Russia if no deal was reached.
“I am not saying we’re on the verge of a peace deal, however I’m saying that we noticed motion, sufficient motion to justify a follow-up assembly with Zelenskyy and the Europeans, sufficient motion for us to dedicate much more time to this,” Rubio instructed broadcaster CBS.
For his half, Putin briefed his shut ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, concerning the Alaska talks, and in addition spoke with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Trump stated on Friday that Ukraine ought to make a deal to finish the struggle as a result of “Russia is a really massive energy, they usually’re not.”
After the Alaska summit, Trump phoned Zelenskyy and instructed him the Kremlin chief had provided to freeze most entrance traces if Ukraine ceded all of Donetsk, a supply acquainted with the matter stated. Zelenskyy rejected the demand.