European and NATO Leaders to Join Zelenskyy in Washington for Talks With Trump (Worthy News Radio)

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – European and NATO military alliance leaders announced Sunday that they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for crucial talks with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on ending the war in Ukraine. They rallied around the Ukrainian leader after his exclusion from Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a remarkable move, one European leader after another confirmed that they will accompany Zelenskyy when he travels to the White House on Monday. Their aim: to help end Europe’s bloodiest war in decades. The joint visit is also seen as an effort to ensure that the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated the Ukrainian president in a heated Oval Office exchange.

European leaders say they want to show unity behind Zelenskyy after he was excluded from Friday’s summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska.

High on the agenda will be the outcome of that meeting, which remains shrouded in mystery, with no clear agreement or ceasefire deal.

Speaking in Brussels on his way to Washington, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine is not prepared to surrender annexed territories, adding that a ceasefire is the essential first step for negotiations.

Zelenskyy said, “We have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It’s impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So, it’s necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal.”

He stressed, “We’ll talk about it in Washington. Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it. Second, we need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now.”

EU SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE

Zelenskyy made the remarks after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who stressed that the European Union will back Ukraine in securing a just and lasting peace. “First, we must have strong security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe’s vital security interests. Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” she stressed.

“There can be no limitations on Ukrainian armed forces, be it cooperation with or other third countries or assistance from other third countries. No limitations for the Ukrainian armed forces,” Von der Leyen added.

She will join Zelenskyy in Washington, along with leaders such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, often described as “Europe’s Trump whisperer.”

Meloni, who has spent time at Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, was the only European leader invited to his inauguration in January. Trump recently described her as “a wonderful person.”

At the center of the Washington talks will be the unresolved outcome of Trump’s summit with Putin. Moscow has so far refused to return annexed territories or allow Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance. However, Putin did signal that he was willing to discuss broader security concerns—leaving open a possible negotiation path, even as fighting continues on the ground.

Yet the Slovak and Hungarian prime ministers have praised the summit. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said it made the world “a safer place.”

However, Orbán, who has been critical of sanctions against Russia, warned that Europe risks being “sidelined” if it’s excluded from U.S.–Russia discussions and advocated for a Europe–Russia summit to ensure the continent “remains influential.”

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