European leaders and the NATO Secretary General will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Monday’s White House meeting, offering up a coordinated show of support for Kyiv after President Donald Trump failed to reach a ceasefire deal with Russia last week.

Why It Matters

European officials have looked on with concern as the Trump administration placed itself as the chief negotiator between Russia and Ukraine, jockeying to stay in the loop—and influential—as the Republican appears unwilling to strongarm Russia into concessions.

European countries, many of which feel their own security is at stake with an agreement for Ukraine, have repeatedly echoed Kyiv’s demands for a ceasefire deal that does not gift Russia territory recognized internationally as Ukrainian, and for Kyiv to have firm security guarantees to deter future Russian attacks.

Ahead of Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, European leaders made it clear they did not support any change in borders by force. Trump had said in advance of the summit that both sides would need to cede territory.

What To Know

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron will be among the leaders making the trip to Washington.

Also expected to attend are Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who has sought a tight relationship with Trump.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb may attend, Politico reported on Sunday. The Finnish leader has broken the ice with Trump, bonding over a shared love of golfing while leading a country with a significant land border, and apprehension toward, Russia. Stubb is a “very good player,” Trump previously said.

Zelensky’s previous visit to the White House in February ended in disaster, descending into a public show of fractured relations between Kyiv and Washington.

“Most likely, there will be little mutual understanding between Trump and Zelensky,” Oleg Dunda, a Ukrainian MP who is part of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, told Newsweek. “Zelensky has already firmly rejected any proposals regarding territories.”

Trump told European leaders after meeting Putin that he backed a plan in which Ukraine would cede territory it still controlled to Russia, The New York Times reported, citing two senior European officials. Reuters reported that Russia had said it would offer slivers of land it currently controls in Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv giving up chunks of land in the east that Russia does not currently control, citing sources briefed on the Kremlin’s thinking.

Under the proposal, Ukraine would fully withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, with the current front lines in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the south frozen in place, according to the report.

Kyiv has said it will not reward Russia’s invasion with territory, and to cede these areas would go against the country’s constitution.

Russia has tried to frame European nations as stumbling blocks to the peace agreement the Trump administration has pledged to broker. Following the Anchorage summit, Putin urged European politicians to “not make attempts to disrupt the planned progress through provocations and behind-the-scenes intrigues,” or to become “obstacles.”

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Sunday that despite the Alaska summit yielding no deal, Ukraine would have “Article 5-like” protections to ward off any future attempt by Russia to attack its neighbor. Article 5 is the provision in NATO’s founding treaty that means that an attack on any member country in the alliance is treated as an attack on all.

Moscow has insisted Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO, while Kyiv sees joining the alliance as a way to make sure Russia cannot attack the country again.

“Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump told Fox News following the Alaska summit. “I would also say the European nations have to get involved a little bit.”

What People Are Saying

Dominique Trinquand, a retired general who previously headed up France’s military mission to the United Nations, told The Associated Press: “The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelensky to the hilt.”

What Happens Next

It’s not clear how much concrete progress will be made in Monday’s meeting, the Russian and Ukrainian demands remaining apparently irreconciliable.