European leaders unite behind Zelenskyy as Trump presses for deal ‘favouring’ Moscow

In a rare and pointed display of transatlantic unity, top European leaders arrived at the White House on Monday to back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of his potentially contentious meeting with US President Donald Trump — where Zelenskyy is expected to face pressure to agree to a ceasefire deal that could favour Moscow.

Leaders from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union, and NATO gathered in Washington in a coordinated effort to show solidarity with Kyiv and to advocate for strong, enforceable security guarantees as part of any eventual post-war agreement, reported Reuters.

Trump, who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska just days ago with a warm reception, has made clear he wants a rapid resolution to what has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. But Kyiv and its allies remain deeply concerned that Trump may push for a deal aligned with Russian interests.

Zelenskyy is set to meet with Trump at 1:15 pm EDT (1715 GMT) in the Oval Office — their first face-to-face since a tense and highly publicised meeting in February. Following that, Trump is scheduled to meet the assembled European leaders in the East Room at 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). The high-level gathering, arranged at short notice, is being described as unprecedented in recent White House history.

“Russia can only be forced into peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media after an earlier meeting with the US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.

Trump has rejected accusations that the Alaska summit had been a win for Putin, who has been indicted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court and diplomatically isolated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump’s team has said there will have to be compromises on both sides to end the conflict. But the president himself has put the burden on Zelenskiy to end the war, saying Ukraine should give up hopes of getting back Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or of joining the NATO military alliance.

Zelenskiy “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said on social media.

Putin’s proposals

Zelenskyy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin’s proposals from the Alaska meeting. Those include handing over the remaining quarter of its eastern Donetsk region, which is largely controlled by Russia. Ukrainian forces are deeply dug into the region, whose towns and hills serve as a crucial defensive zone to stymie Russian attacks.

Any changes to Ukraine’s territory would have to be approved by a referendum.

Zelenskiy is also seeking an immediate ceasefire to conduct deeper peace talks. Trump previously backed that idea but reversed course after the summit with Putin and indicated support for Russia’s favoured approach of negotiating a comprehensive deal while fighting rumbles on.

Ukraine and its allies have taken heart from some developments, including Trump’s apparent willingness to provide post-settlement security guarantees for Ukraine. A German government spokesperson said on Monday that European leaders would seek more details on that in the talks in Washington.

The war, which began with a full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022, has killed or wounded more than a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts, and destroyed wide swaths of the country.

On the battlefield, Russia has been slowly grinding forward, pressing its advantages in men and firepower. Putin says he is ready to continue fighting until his military objectives are achieved.

Officials in Ukraine said a drone attack on a residential complex in the northern city of Kharkiv killed at least seven people, including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother. Strikes also hit the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three people, they said.

Russia says it does not deliberately target civilians, and the Defense Ministry’s daily report did not refer to any strike on Kharkiv.

Local resident Olena Yakusheva said the strike hit an apartment block that was home to many families. “There are no offices here or anything else, we lived here peacefully in our homes,” she said.

Firefighters battled a blaze in the building and rescue workers dug in the rubble.

Ukraine’s military said on Monday that its drones had struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region, leading to the suspension of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.