European leaders rally behind Ukraine as Trump signals willingness to trade territory for peace and hints at NATO-style guarantees. (Image Credits: NPR)
European leaders will converge in Washington on Monday to stand beside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he meets U.S. President Donald Trump. The rare show of unity comes amid fears that Trump is pressing Kyiv to accept a fast-track peace deal that could redraw Ukraine’s borders after his recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will all attend. Their goal: to bolster Zelensky's position as Trump steers the negotiations closer to Moscow’s terms.
Just days ago, Trump and Putin met in Alaska, where discussions reportedly focused on territorial concessions. According to sources briefed on the talks, one scenario involved Russia surrendering small pockets of occupied land while Ukraine ceded swathes of fortified eastern territory, freezing most of the front lines.
Trump hinted at major progress on Sunday, writing: “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!” on social media, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged on CBS’ Face the Nation that both sides would need to make concessions: “If peace is not going to be possible here … people will continue to die by the thousands. We may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there.”
Trump’s envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, revealed that the U.S. may offer Ukraine Article 5-like protection—a NATO-style collective defense pledge—in lieu of full NATO membership.
“It was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,” Witkoff said on CNN.
Still, Ukraine remains wary. Its sovereignty was already guaranteed under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum when it gave up nuclear weapons, yet Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and invaded in 2022. Von der Leyen set out Europe’s red lines in Brussels: robust security guarantees, no restrictions on Ukraine’s military, and Kyiv’s seat at the table alongside Trump and Putin. She added: “Ukraine must become a steel porcupine, indigestible for potential invaders.”
This Washington summit carries added weight after Zelensky's disastrous White House visit in February, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly scolded him for being “ungrateful.”
European allies are determined to prevent a repeat, rallying behind Zelenskiy to ensure he is not isolated in negotiations.
Also Read: Trump Floats NATO-Like Security Guarantees for Ukraine as Russia Signals Openness
After the Alaska summit, Putin briefed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Trump later phoned Zelensky directly, relaying Putin’s offer to freeze most front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, a proposal Zelenskiy flatly rejected. Russia already controls about 20% of Ukraine, including three-quarters of Donetsk province, and has little incentive to scale back its ambitions.
Monday’s meeting in Washington could determine whether the war drags on or pivots toward a fragile peace built on compromise. Trump insists a deal is possible without a prior ceasefire, a reversal of his earlier stance, while Ukraine and its allies demand firmer guarantees.
For now, the stakes remain stark: either concessions that freeze the battlefield or continued fighting in Europe’s deadliest war since World War II.
