Chief researcher Kristian Åtland believes Zelensky will have a better experience in the White House than last time, but doubts that there will be a breakthrough in the work towards peace in Ukraine.

- There will be no breakthrough, but perhaps they can agree on the contours of a further process, including a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky, says chief researcher Kristian Åtland at the Norwegian Defence Research Institute (FFI) to NTB.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long been clear that he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Putin has said that such a meeting can only take place towards the end of a possible peace process.

The last time Zelenskyy met with Trump at the White House, he was almost berated by both Trump himself and Vice President J.D. Vance. The accusations included that Zelenskyy was ungrateful. The two have since apparently improved their relationship.

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Monday's meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Norwegian time.

This time, Zelenskyy is backed by several European leaders, including NATO chief Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Leaders from Germany, Italy and Finland are also in attendance, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to the White House calendar.

– I would like to think that the atmosphere may be different than at the meeting in February. And of course it is an advantage for Zelenskyj that he has the backing of several important European leaders who largely share his view on how to stop the war, says Åtland.

– So I think he stands stronger against Trump than he would if he met him one-on-one.

According to CNN, however, Trump wants to have a meeting with just Zelensky before the European leaders are allowed to attend.

– Must be completed quickly and reliably

When Zelensky arrived in Washington on Sunday evening, he immediately published a post on social media.

– We share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably, writes Zelenskyj in a post on X.

He has previously rejected ceding Russian-occupied territories to Russia as part of a peace deal. However, ahead of Monday's meeting, he said that any peace talks should be based on the current front lines.

“We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now,” Zelensky said on Sunday.

He added that European leaders support this.

– It is out of the question to give Crimea back

Trump also published a post before the meeting.

– Ukrainian President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight, Trump writes in a post on Truth Social Monday night.

He also writes that it is out of the question for Ukraine to both regain the Crimean peninsula and become a NATO member.

– Remember how it started. No return of Crimea that Obama gave away (twelve years ago, and without a shot being fired!), and NO NATO MEMBERSHIP FOR UKRAINE. Some things never change, Trump concludes, with three exclamation points.

Russia wants four regions

Former US President Barack Obama has been criticized for not having reacted more strongly when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014. The US and Europe imposed sanctions, but this did not weaken Russia in such a way as to prevent the invasion eight years later.

After Russia went to full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has also declared four Ukrainian regions as Russian. Today, Russian forces occupy almost all of Luhansk, most of Donetsk, and large parts of Zaporizhia and Kherson, and Putin demands full control over these.

Collective protection?

Monday's meeting comes just days after Zelensky met with Putin in Alaska. After the meeting, Trump said he spoke with Putin about the possibility of some kind of collective protection of Ukraine, but without it happening within the framework of NATO.

French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that European leaders will ask Trump how far the United States is willing to go in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelensky has repeatedly said that the United States must provide Ukraine with security guarantees in connection with a possible peace agreement with Russia. On Sunday, he said that the security guarantees that the United States has offered Ukraine are historic, without elaborating on what they entail.

– The Europeans will be involved

Åtland believes that the European leaders have joined the meeting to try to join the ongoing diplomatic process for peace.

– The meeting in Alaska put the European powers in a bit of a dilemma by putting Trump and Putin in the driving seat. The Europeans then have two options: either establish their own process without the US or join the one the US and Russia have started.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) participated in a digital meeting with Zelensky and a number of other European leaders on Sunday. On Monday morning, he called for increased pressure on Russia.

– It is important to strengthen cooperation on security guarantees. The pressure on Russia must increase, writes Støre on the messaging service X.

Here he also emphasizes that negotiations about Ukraine cannot take place without Ukraine itself participating.

– We stand united in our support for Ukraine, writes Støre in the post, which is written in English.