The period between August 17 and 18 will be a night of travel for many European leaders. Following the announcement by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, several heads of state and government from the old continent have also confirmed their presence in Washington for the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump, which follows the August summit in Alaska between the US president and Vladimir Putin. The White House invitation arrived yesterday, during the phone call in which the tycoon relayed the contents of the nearly three-hour meeting with the Kremlin leader. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

This will be Zelensky's first visit to Washington since his visit to the White House on February 28, when a heated verbal exchange erupted in the Oval Office with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance. Despite opposing Moscow's conditions, the Ukrainian leader is willing to negotiate a ceasefire. Zelensky opposes Putin's demand to cede Donetsk and Lugansk in exchange for a freeze on the battle lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. But at the White House, the Ukrainian president is ready to engage in dialogue that could soon lead to a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin. According to the tycoon, this three-way summit could be organized as early as August 22.