European leaders are preparing to send high-profile figures to Washington alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky in a bid to strengthen Kyiv's position during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 18, Politico reported on Aug. 16, citing unnamed European diplomats and officials.
The move comes after Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, where the U.S. leader said he would seek to bring Putin and Zelensky together for trilateral talks on a peace deal.
No breakthrough was achieved in Alaska, but Putin received a red-carpet welcome that raised alarm among European allies.
According to Politico, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, a trusted Trump interlocutor, may accompany Zelensky to Washington to help prevent tensions and ensure Europe has a voice in the negotiations.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is also reportedly considering joining the trip.
European officials see the summit as pivotal to preventing Trump from conceding to Russian demands that Kyiv finds unacceptable, including ceding territory partially occupied by Moscow.
Privately, officials fear a repeat of February, when a meeting between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office devolved into a heated argument over U.S. aid to Ukraine, Politico says.
The clash in February led Trump to cancel a planned U.S.-Ukraine mineral agreement and publicly accuse Zelensky of having "disrespected the United States of America in the cherished Oval Office" in a post on Truth Social.
After the Alaska meeting, Trump said he negotiated with Putin over possible land swaps, but declined to give details.
Aereo solare svizzero vola a 9.521 metri di altezza: battuto il record mondiale