Europe is redoubling its efforts to ensure that peace in Ukraine does not become a burden for kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington on Monday to meet with US President Donald Trump, after the latter met with Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin in Alaska. But he will not be traveling alone. He will be accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the presidents of France, Emmanuel Macron, and Finland, Alexander Stubb, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Stamer, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to reports from their cabinets on Sunday.
Last Friday, after concluding his meeting with Putin in Alaska, Trump said that it had been"productive" and that the ball was now in Ukraine's court."Now it's up to President Zelensky to achieve it [a peace agreement]. I would also say that the European countries need to get a little involved," he emphasized. On this last point, they have certainly listened to him. If he wants to see everyone who goes to Washington together, he'll have to receive them in a West Wing office larger than the Oval Office. What's not clear is whether they'll be involved exactly as he hopes.
Because Trump in Alaska embraced at least part of Russia's agenda regarding the solution to the war in Ukraine. If before the meeting with Putin, the Republican spoke of an immediate ceasefire or that there would be"serious consequences" for Russia, he later went on to say that it would be much better to negotiate a definitive peace. He thus adopted the cadence Moscow has always advocated: the war will end when the"deep roots" of the conflict are resolved.
Von der Leyen, always careful not to upset the American leader, said this Sunday that words aren't what matters:"What matters is the effect, and the effect must be to stop the killing. The most important thing, more than whether we call it a ceasefire or a peace agreement, is to stop the killing. Furthermore, it is important to have a trilateral meeting as soon as possible." She said this in reference to the three-way summit (United States, Russia, Ukraine) proposed by Trump and which she will discuss with Zelensky this Monday.
Before traveling to Washington, the Ukrainian stopped in Brussels to meet in person with Von der Leyen and participate together in the meeting of the leaders of the countries that make up the Coalition of the Willing, ready to guarantee the security and sovereignty of kyiv if a ceasefire or peace agreement is reached. This element is key for the Europeans, who do not want Russia to stop the invasion only to replenish its forces before continuing. And there, President Von der Leyen thanked Trump for"his willingness to contribute to [something] like Article 5 [of the NATO Treaty]" as security guarantees for Ukraine.
This last sentence from the German, which literally uses the words of the American president in the call he had with European leaders after meeting Putin in Alaska, is an explicit reference to the article of the founding document of the Atlantic Alliance that says that an attack against one of its members is considered an attack against all and, therefore, implies mutual defense.
This doesn't mean Ukraine will join NATO, but it does mean that it is being considered for security guarantees similar to those enjoyed by NATO members. The idea has been floated on several occasions by Italy's Meloni, who on Saturday welcomed Trump's acceptance of the challenge.
Von der Leyen's words were echoed by the US envoy for Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, who in an interview on CNN spoke of"robust security guarantees." "We have an agreement whereby the United States and other European countries can efficiently offer something similar to Article 5 [of NATO] to cover [Ukraine's] security guarantees."
Cession of territory
It is less clear whether the two sides of the Atlantic will discuss a possible cession of territories by the invaded country. Von der Leyen stressed that"international borders cannot be changed by the use of force. This kind of decision must be made by Ukraine, and Ukraine alone, but never by force." And kyiv says it is legally impossible."The Ukrainian Constitution declares both the cession of territories and their exchange impossible," President Zelensky recalled in Brussels after hearing von der Leyen's remarks.
"If a ceasefire is not agreed upon, the EU and the US must increase pressure on Russia," European Council President António Costa said on Sunday."Ukraine's sovereign right to determine its terms for peace must be respected," he continued.
These arguments aren't new. They've been heard since the war began, but they've become more prominent in recent weeks, as the possibility of opening negotiations gains traction. In Washington, Zelensky and the other leaders traveling with him will be able to tell Trump what they think about Putin's offer to stop the invasion: that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region (the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk) in eastern Ukraine in exchange for freezing the front line. The Republican already told them this on Saturday, and several of them concluded that he was receptive to the idea.
Both this Sunday's meeting and the trip to Washington by several European heavyweights are a clear gesture of support for Ukraine that goes beyond traditional communiqués and declarations. They seek to demonstrate their full commitment to ensuring that the end of the Russian invasion does not become a concocted issue between two parties (the United States and Russia) and a third party that has no choice but to accept what they offer. This is also because almost all European countries—especially those closest to the Russian border—understand that Moscow's aggression, which began in February 2022, has shaken the foundations of the continent's security.
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez was unable to attend this Sunday's meeting in Brussels as planned, as he traveled to León to visit the areas affected by the wildfires ravaging Spain. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares followed the meeting in his place via videoconference.
The Spanish Prime Minister has played an active role in supporting Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion three and a half years ago. Sánchez was one of the leaders who supported Zelensky last February in Kyiv at events marking the third anniversary of the offensive and also at the first meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, the same month in Paris. The Spanish Prime Minister was not, however, present at the talks leading up to the Alaska summit between European leaders and Trump, with whom Sánchez does not have good relations.
Representatives from other countries that have shown their ties to Ukraine since the invasion by delivering military equipment, such as the Netherlands and Denmark (a country with which the US president has opened a dispute over Greenland), also did not participate. Those who did attend the meetings were the leaders of Europe's largest and most influential countries in the international arena (the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany) and those closest to the Russian border (Finland and Poland).
