Russian invasion Negotiations

Zelensky receives massive support in Washington – Europe's most important leaders are accompanying

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several other important European leaders will accompany Volodymyr Zelensky to the Trump meeting at the White House tomorrow. This is announced by von der Leyen on X, without mentioning any more names.

Shortly afterwards, the respective countries announce that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also be accompanying the trip. No more names have been announced.

This afternoon, Zelensky will travel to Brussels to meet with the EU base. Together, they will participate in a video meeting with the countries in the "coalition of the willing". Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) will also participate in that meeting, writes Reuters.

Several important issues are on the agenda of the upcoming talks, writes Euractiv. Can Ukraine and the EU accept a peace agreement without first working for a ceasefire, as Trump is now proposing? How should one relate to Russian demands to retain Ukrainian territory? And how could security guarantees for Ukraine work?

Information: Trump wants to have a leaders' meeting as early as Friday

US President Donald Trump wants to have a trilateral meeting between himself, Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Vladimir Putin "soon" - possibly as early as Friday, two sources tell Axios. According to the sources, Trump is said to have told European leaders this in yesterday's phone call.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly demanded such a meeting, but Putin has consistently refused. The Russian leader has also not commented on the possibility of a meeting this week.

Tomorrow, Trump is to meet Zelenskyj at the White House. Trump has also invited several European leaders to that conversation.

Demands: Donbas, language, church and no NATO

Some of the items on Vladimir Putin's list of demands have leaked to the media after the meeting with Donald Trump.

One of Putin's central demands is that the entire Donbas, where the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are located, be returned to Russia. The demand also applies to the parts currently controlled by Ukraine. In the phone call with European leaders, Donald Trump is said to have said that Putin is ready to freeze the current front lines in Zaporizhia and Kherson if this is met.

Putin is said to have offered a written agreement never to attack Ukraine or any other European country again, Trump said in the conversation, whereupon the European leaders pointed out that Putin often breaks his written promises, sources told the New York Times.

Trump also reportedly said that Putin is prepared to accept strong security guarantees for Ukraine after an agreement is in place, such as from US troops, but not from NATO. Putin, in turn, wanted guarantees that Russian would once again become an official language in Ukraine and that the Russian Orthodox Church would be preserved.