The president of the United States, Donald Trump, speaks with journalists aboard Air Force One on his way to Alaska to meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, USA, on August 15, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
London – Three goals are overcoming the agenda, since several European leaders join the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet US leader Donald Trump in Washington, DC
The Alaska Summit on Friday raised concerns in Europe that Trump could have softened his position towards possible sanctions on Russia, and is now pressing for a permanent peace agreement in Ukraine instead of a high initial fire, a more aligned approach with the Moscow position.
European Union officials still remember Zelenskyy’s incendiary appearance in the Oval office in February, when Trump and vice president JD Vance criticized the Ukrainian leader in front of television cameras for not being sufficiently grateful for the support of the United States throughout the war.
This time, EU leaders travel to the United States on Monday seeking to take Washington next to Ukraine. The European cohort includes heads of state who are close to Trump, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
“The objective is mainly to support Zelenskyy,” a high -ranking EU diplomat told CNBC, who did not want to be appointed due to the sensitivity of the subject, he told CNBC on Sunday. “The idea is to make sure [Trump] It has the same objectives as Europe. “
The same diplomat described: “Our main objectives are: security guarantees, stop the murder and go to a trilateral meeting.”
Security guarantees
Facing a scenario that presents the end of the war, but is not a member of NATO for kyiv, Ukraine has insisted on the security guarantees that decrease the probability of more attacks and invasions of its territory.
According to the special envoy of the USA. UU. Steve Witkoff, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow Europe and the United States to provide such post -war security guarantees to Ukraine, which could be described as protections similar to article 5 in the NATO alliance, a measure that establishes that an attack against a member is an attack against all.
An EU official, who follows these geopolitical issues but did not want to be appointed due to the sensitivity of the problem, told CNBC that “article 5 of NATO 5, such as security guarantees for Ukraine, are great, but they are not clear what they will imply in practice.”
In statements to the “Europe Early Edition” of CNBC on Monday, the former American diplomat James Bindenagel said that these security guarantees would allow Western forces, but not from NATO, are present in Ukraine, that “they would have the ability to fight any violation of a high fire.”
Stop killing
According to reports, Putin has asked for the withdrawal of Ukraine from Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east of the country and added that Moscow could freeze the first -line lines in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
However, the promise to put an end to war in exchange for territorial concessions is a long-standing non-score for kyiv, with Zelenskyy saying last week that such surrender would be a “springboard” for a future new Russian offensive.
“While the bloodshed in Ukraine continues, Europe will maintain diplomatic and, in particular, economical pressure on Russia,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von read him, in a Sunday statement.
He added that the EU “will continue to strengthen the sanctions” and are advancing the preparations for a 19th package of measures to appear in early September.
Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy?
The other objective that Europe wants to meet on Monday is to ensure the support of the White House for a meeting that presents Trump and Putin, but also leads Zelenskyy to the negotiating table.
“These are challenging times; only Ukraine can choose their own destiny,” said Von der Leyen on Sunday.
Trump has talked about a possible summit that presents himself, the Russian and Ukrainian leadership, but has not mentioned that perspective of such a meeting from the Alaska Summit.
– Emilia Hardie of CNBC contributed to this report.
Correction: Giorgia Meloni is the Prime Minister of Italy. An earlier version wrote his name badly.
