European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Monday for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, in an effort to strengthen Kyiv’s position as Trump presses Ukraine to accept a swift peace deal to end Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years.
The meeting comes after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, where he appeared more aligned with Moscow’s push for a comprehensive settlement rather than a ceasefire-first approach, Reuters reports.
Trump and Zelensky are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting before being joined by European leaders for broader discussions, according to a source familiar with the talks. The White House declined to comment on the precise schedule.
“If peace is not possible here and this continues simply as a war, thousands more people will die… Unfortunately, we may end up there, but we don’t want to end up there,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation.
The talks represent a critical diplomatic moment as Ukraine, heavily dependent on Western aid, faces mounting pressure on the battlefield while resisting Russian demands for territorial concessions.
