Multiple European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he meets with President Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss the Alaska summit between the US leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a report from Axios, Trump and Zelensky had a “difficult” phone call after the summit as Trump conveyed he had come around to Putin’s position that pursuing a quick peace deal was preferable to entering a ceasefire before negotiations start.
But the Trump administration does appear to have come around to Zelensky’s demands for robust security guarantees from the US and Europe. According to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, the US is ready to consider guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5 but outside of the alliance.
Witkoff claimed that Putin agreed during the summit that Ukraine could receive an Article 5-style guarantee from the US and Europe, but that is unlikely as one of Moscow’s main demands to end the war has been Ukrainian neutrality.
What Witkoff could be referring to is an arrangement that was included in a draft peace deal in April 2022 under which Ukraine would be a neutral state but would receive security guarantees from several countries, including the US, Britain, China, and Russia. All of the details weren’t worked out, but Russia wanted a deal where all of the security guarantors would have to agree unanimously on action, meaning any member would have a veto.
According to a report from Reuters, the proposal that Putin offered to Trump in Alaska would involve Ukraine withdrawing from the remaining territory it controls in the Donbas region and freezing the lines in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia would also withdraw from the territory it controls in areas of northeastern Ukraine.
The Reuters report said Putin is also seeking official status of the Russian language and for the Russian Orthodox Church to be able to operate freely in Ukraine. For years, the Ukrainian government has been targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic ties to the ROC, which has included seizing churches and arresting priests.
Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelensky met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be in Washington on Monday. Zelensky pushed back on some of Russia’s reported proposals, including the concession of land.
“Ukraine’s Constitution makes it impossible to give up or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral—Ukraine, the US, Russia,” Zelensky said. “So far, Russia gives no sign this will happen, and if Russia refuses, new sanctions must follow.”
Zelensky’s positions appear to be receiving strong support from European officials considering how many will be joining him in Washington. According to Fox News, Zelensky will also be joined by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.