BRUSSELS: European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Washington on Monday (Aug 18) seeking an end to Moscow’s invasion, after President Donald Trump dropped his push for a ceasefire following his Alaska summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after the Kremlin ordered the invasion, had been one of Trump’s core demands before the summit, to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited.
But after a meeting that yielded no clear breakthrough, Trump ruled out an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine – a move that would appear to favour Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal.
Ukraine and its European allies have criticised it as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances.
The leaders heading to Washington on Monday to try and bend Trump’s ear on the matter include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ahead of the visit on Monday, von der Leyen said on X she would welcome Zelenskyy for a meeting in Brussels on Sunday, which other European leaders would join by video call, before accompanying the Ukrainian leader on his US trip at his “request” with “other European leaders”.
The German government confirmed Merz was among those other European leaders, and would try to emphasise “interest in a swift peace agreement in Ukraine”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb will also join the trip.
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