At noon - at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time (8:15 p.m. Bulgarian Time) US President Donald Trump will first host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a one-hour meeting - mainly to discuss possible concessions to the Russian aggressor. Talks will follow in a wider circle - with the participation of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, EC President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Meloni, Stubb and Rutte are believed to have particularly good relations with US President Trump. They will be there to fend off possible verbal attacks by Trump against the Ukrainian president, diplomatic sources say.
The scandal this time must be prevented at all costs
A scandal like the one that took place during Zelensky's first official visit to Trump in late February must be avoided at all costs in the current extremely delicate phase of negotiations over the fate of Ukraine. In February, Trump publicly rebuked his Ukrainian guest in front of the cameras in the Oval Office, calling him ungrateful. The indignant Zelensky left immediately.
However, US President Trump knows very well that the fate of Ukraine depends primarily on American support, both militarily and politically. In his eyes, Zelensky is more of a supplicant than an equal negotiating partner for a "deal."
Europeans want to win Trump over
The summit in Washington will be a kind of continuation of the talks with Putin in Alaska on Friday - when the Russian president managed to convince Trump to drop his demand for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Political experts in Germany agree that this meeting became a triumph for Putin, who managed to effortlessly push his unchanged demands on Trump to annex the occupied Ukrainian regions, disarm Ukraine, and lift sanctions against Russia.
Now, European allies will most likely try to convince Trump that his approach to the negotiations is appropriate and to convince him to demand more concessions from Russia. German government spokesman Stefan Cornelius said before Merz left Berlin that "he will emphasize Germany's interest in a quick peace in Ukraine."
What did Trump and Putin agree on?
According to the “New York Times”, in Alaska, Putin and Trump agreed that Ukraine would hand over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Russia in full, including those parts of them that are not currently occupied by Russia.
The Ukrainian president has consistently rejected such a step in a categorical manner. And now Zelensky's most difficult task will probably be to once again clearly emphasize this position to Trump.
The Europeans are demanding a ceasefire along the current front line. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Ukraine will probably have to accept the de facto annexation of the regions, although this remains unrecognized by international law.
Will there be a meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky soon?
During a video conference with the Ukrainian president on Sunday, European representatives again committed to guarantees for Ukraine's security. They viewed as positive the announcement that the United States would also join the security guarantees if a peace treaty was concluded.
At least that is how Trump's statements after the meeting in Alaska are interpreted in Berlin, Brussels, London and Paris. If the talks in Washington with Ukraine and European representatives lead to the desired result, US President Trump wants to urgently organize a trilateral summit with Ukraine and Russia - perhaps as early as Friday.
According to the “New York Times“ Russian President Putin had expressed to Trump some willingness to participate in such a meeting. But only if Ukraine first gives up its territories. Contrary to all truth, Putin calls Zelensky a Nazi and an illegitimate president. Therefore, a number of political analysts in the world rightly wonder whether he really wants to meet with the Ukrainian president or is just trying to buy time.
Bernd Riegert