<iframe class=youtube src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQDr7JHcZD4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><a rel=ugc href="https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=GQDr7JHcZD4'si=QYSTHLgtT-nzsFbw">https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=GQDr7JHcZD4'si=QYSTHLgtT-nzsFbw</a><br><br><blockquote><b>European Leaders to Join Zelensky for Meeting With Trump</b><br><br>European leaders said on Sunday that they would join President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine when he meets with President Trump on Monday at the White House, as they strive to show solidarity against Russia and avoid being sidelined in peace talks.<br><br>Our goal tomorrow is to present a united front between Europeans and Ukrainians, President Emmanuel Macron of France told reporters. I dont believe Putin wants peace. I believe he wants Ukraines capitulation.<br><br>Mr. Macron will be one of at least six European leadersincluding Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain and President Alexander Stubb of Finland, two of Mr. Trumps favored counterpartstraveling to Washington. The trip highlights the continents effort to smooth relations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, whose last White House meeting in February descended into a public clash.<br><br>European leaders have spent months cultivating ties with Mr. Trump to strengthen their hand in pressing Ukraines case, while also coaching Mr. Zelensky on how to better engage with Mr. Trump. On Sunday, the Europeans and other partners met online and in person with Mr. Zelensky to prepare for the meeting in Washington.<br><br>Well give a few good pieces of advice, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany told the German television broadcaster ZDF ahead of the meeting. He will also join the Washington meeting, along with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy; NATOs secretary general, Mark Rutte; and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Unions executive arm.<br><br>Mr. Trump will first meet with Mr. Zelensky. They are then scheduled to join a working lunch and a larger meeting with the other European leaders, according to European officials familiar with the preparations for the day.<br><br>The meeting will come three days after talks in Alaska between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ended inconclusively but fueled concerns in Europe that Mr. Trumps thinking may have tilted toward Russias position.<br><br>After their summit, Mr. Trump sided with the Russian president in calling for a direct peace agreement that would quite likely see Ukraine cede unconquered territory to Russia, rather than securing a cease-fire first. Negotiations instead of an immediate cease-fire would give Russia time to exploit its battlefield advantage to seize territory before any front lines are settled.<br><br>Mr. Trump claimed that Mr. Zelensky and European leaders had agreed on the point. But the group had instead called for refusing to discuss peace terms until a cease-fire was in place.<br><br>Russia has long pushed for a direct peace deal that would address a range of issues and impose onerous demands on Ukraine, including territorial concessions. Mr. Trumps about-face sent Ukrainian and European officials scrambling to coordinate their positions before pressing their case together to him.<br><br>They seemed careful not to antagonize Mr. Trump, issuing statements that did not ask him to reverse course, but also did not echo his claim that peace talks were preferable to a cease-fire.<br><br>Speaking at a news conference in Brussels on Sunday, Ms. von der Leyen said the term cease-fire was not so important and that what mattered was to end the fighting. Whether we call it a cease-fire or its a peace dealstop the killings.<br><br>Alongside her, Mr. Zelensky said he agreed on the terminology. But he added that it was impossible to negotiate under the pressure of weapons, or if hostilities continued during pursuit of a direct peace deal.<br><br>So its necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal, Mr. Zelensky said, adding that negotiations should be based on the current front lines.<br><br>After the news conference, Mr. Zelensky joined a virtual meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, a group of European countries prepared to help safeguard an eventual peace, including, in some cases, by sending troops to Ukrainian soil after the conflict ends.<br><br>After the meeting, Mr. Macron, who took part in it, said European leaders would ask Mr. Trump how far he would go in backing security guarantees for Ukraine.<br><br>Such troop deployments could be part of security guarantees for Ukraine that Mr. Trump called for as part of a peace deal. On Sunday, Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state and acting national security adviser, said on Fox News that European leaders involved in talks with Ukraine would play an important role in discussions of long-term security guarantees intended to deter future Russian incursions.<br><br>Obtaining robust security guarantees for Ukraine is in Europes interest. Several European leaders have warned that if Mr. Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, he could ultimately try to take European territory by force.<br><br>Oleksandr Kraiev, the director of the North America program at the Kyiv research group Ukrainian Prism, said in an interview this past week that for Europe the idea is to present Ukrainian security and defense issues as a European security and defense issue.<br><br>Mr. Macron echoed that thinking on Sunday, saying he and other European leaders were not heading to Washington just to accompany President Zelensky.<br><br>We are going there to defend the interests of the Europeans, he said.</blockquote><br><a rel=ugc href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/us/politics/trump-european-leaders-zelensky-meeting.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/us/politics/trump-european-leaders-zelensky-meeting.html</a><br><br>Photo: Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Voloydmyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain at Mariyinsky Palace, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in May.Credit...
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