Zelenskyy brings Europe's top leaders with him to meet Trump on ending
Russia's war
[August 18, 2025]
By JOSH BOAK and SAMYA KULLAB
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine's future could hinge on a hastily assembled
meeting Monday at the White House as Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy brings with him an extraordinary cadre of European leaders to
show U.S. President Donald Trump a united front against Russia.
The European political heavy-hitters were left out of Trump's summit
with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday, and they are looking
to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from
Moscow.
By arriving as a group, they hope to avoid any debacles like Zelenskyy’s
February meeting in the Oval Office, where Trump chastised him for not
showing enough gratitude for American military aid. The meeting also is
a test of America’s relationship with its closest allies after the
European Union and United Kingdom accepted Trump’s tariff hikes partly
because they wanted his support on Ukraine.
Monday’s showing is a sign both of the progress and the possible
distress coming out of the Alaska meeting as many of Europe’s leaders
are descending on Washington with the explicit goal of protecting
Ukraine’s interests, a rare and sweeping show of diplomatic force.
“It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide
security guarantees for Ukraine, and therefore for all of Europe,”
Zelenskyy said on X.
The night before the meeting, however, Trump seemed to put the onus on
Zelenskyy to agree to concessions and suggested that Ukraine could not
regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed
conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion.
"President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost
immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," he wrote
Sunday night on social media. “Remember how it started. No getting back
Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO
GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Zelenskyy appeared to respond with his own post late Sunday, saying, “We
all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He went
on to say that “peace must be lasting,” not as it was after Russia
seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago,
and “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
The sitdown in Alaska yielded the possible contours for stopping the war
in Ukraine, though it was unclear whether the terms discussed would
ultimately be acceptable to Zelenskyy or Putin.
Upon arrival in Washington, Zelenskyy said in another social media post:
“We all equally want to end this war quickly and reliably. And the peace
must be lasting."
He expressed hope that together with the U.S. and European countries
Ukraine will be able to force Russia to “true peace.”
European heavyweights in Washington
Planning to join Zelenskyy in America's capital are European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron,
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
On the table for discussion are possible NATO-like security guarantees
that Ukraine would need for any peace with Russia to be durable. Putin
opposes Ukraine joining NATO outright, yet Trump's team claims the
Russian leader is open to allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes
under attack.
Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin
meeting, and details from the discussions emerged in a scattershot way
that seemed to rankle the U.S. president, who had chosen not to outline
any terms when appearing afterward with Putin.
“BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA,” Trump posted Sunday on social media. The
president also bemoaned media coverage of his summit with Putin, saying
on Truth Social: "I had a great meeting in Alaska."
Following the Alaska summit, Trump declared that a ceasefire was not
necessary for peace talks to proceed, a sudden shift to a position
favored by Putin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that a ceasefire was still
possible but that “the best way to end this conflict is through a full
peace deal."
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Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, welcomes Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street in London, Thursday,
Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
'A very big move'
European officials confirmed that Trump told them Putin is still
seeking control of the entire Donbas region, even though Ukraine
controls a meaningful share of it.
And Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the U.S. and its
allies could offer Ukraine a NATO-like commitment to defend the
country if it came under attack as the possible security guarantee.
"How that’s constructed, what we call it, how it’s built, what
guarantees are built into it that are enforceable, that’s what we’ll
be talking about over the next few days with our partners who are
coming in from overseas,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Rubio said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that such a
commitment “would be a very big move" by Trump. He expects the
delegations will “spend six, seven hours talking about these things,
maybe more, and try to get to a point where we have something more
concrete.”
Monday’s meeting will likely be very tough for Zelenskyy, an
official close to the ongoing talks said. That official spoke on
condition of anonymity to speak openly about thinking within Ukraine
and between allies.
Zelenskyy needs to prevent a scenario in which he gets blamed for
blocking peace talks by rejecting Putin’s maximalist demand on the
Donbas, the official said. It is a demand Zelenskyy has said many
times he will never accept because it is unconstitutional and could
create a launching pad for future Russian attacks.
If confronted with pressure to accept Putin’s demands, Zelenskyy
would likely have to revert to a skill he has demonstrated time and
again: diplomatic tact. Ukrainian leadership is seeking a trilateral
meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin to discuss sensitive
matters, including territorial issues.
Trump's ambition to end the war
After enduring a public tirade by Trump and Vice President JD Vance
in February, Zelenskyy worked to repair relations with the U.S.
Constant diplomatic communication and a 15-minute meeting at the
Vatican in April on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral helped
turn the tide. Trump appeared at the time to be swayed by
Zelenskyy’s conditions for peace.
But Trump says he cares primarily about ending the war, an ambition
that led him after his meeting with Putin to discard the need for a
ceasefire.
European allies also have worked with Trump, reaching a deal in July
for NATO allies to buy weapons from the U.S. for Ukraine.
Ahead of Monday's meeting, France's Macron stressed the importance
of building up Ukraine's military and the need to show Putin that
Europe interprets his moves as a threat to other nations.
“If we are weak with Russia today, we’ll be preparing the conflicts
of tomorrow and they will impact the Ukrainians and — make no
mistake — they can impact us, too,” Macron said.
Russia continues attacks on Ukraine
In the meantime, the Russian forces continued to pound Ukraine with
missiles and drones.
A Russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city,
killed six civilians late on Sunday. Among the victims was a toddler
and a 16-year-old, according to local officials. The strike also
injured 20 people, including six children, authorities said.
Russian aerial attacks also targeted the northeastern Sumy region
and the southern Odesa region.
In Zaporizhzhia, a city in the southeast, 17 people were injured in
an attack on Monday, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched a total of four Iskander-M
ballistic missiles and 140 Shahed and decoy drones across Ukraine
overnight, of which 88 drones were intercepted or jammed.
___
Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers John
Leicester in Le Pecq, France, Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Dasha
Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.
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