The talks will include, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, according to a German statement.
It will be Zelenskiy’s first visit in the White House since February, when his Oval Office encounter with Trump turned into a public shouting match and led to US briefly pausing military aid to Ukraine.
While the two leaders patched up their relationship since then, the show of support from European leaders aims to help the Ukrainian president as he comes under growing pressure to cede some of the land in return for a vague promise of peace.
Trump told European leaders on a call Saturday, following his talks with Putin in Alaska, that he was prepared to contribute to security guarantees with Europe so long as it didn’t involve NATO, Bloomberg reported earlier. The US president suggested Putin would be OK with such an arrangement, people familiar with the matter said.
He also indicated he could be looking to organize a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders as early as within a week, the people said.
Zelenskiy has said repeatedly that he’s willing to meet Putin. The Kremlin has yet to provide a similar commitment, and many European officials doubt he wants to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is halfway through its fourth year.
The topic of a trilateral summit wasn’t raised during the meetings in Alaska, Russia’s state TV channel Vesti reported on Saturday, citing Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
The specifics of a US contribution to any security guarantees for Ukraine are unclear. The discussions have touched upon the possibility of granting Kyiv assurances from some allies — similar to those of NATO’s Article 5 collective defense clause — which commits members to defend each other if attacked, said the people.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, and cautioned that a NATO-like mechanism would be difficult. An alternative would be bolstering, through US commitments, earlier plans coordinated by the UK and France, which included reassurance forces, monitoring and air-cover, the people said.
Ahead of his meeting with Putin, the US president told allies that a ceasefire would be his key demand. He also threatened to walk out of the talks and impose tough new punitive measures on Moscow and countries buying its oil if it wasn’t met. Yet Trump signaled on Friday that he wasn’t in a rush to implement fresh penalties on Russia’s trading partners.
