Six months after a bruising encounter that left Ukraine’s relationship with Washington in shambles, Volodymyr Zelenskyy returns to the White House—this time flanked by a coalition of European leaders and armed with both caution and hope.
As reports have indicated, the stakes are high: not only will he be briefed on US President Donald Trump’s recent summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, but he must also plead Ukraine’s case in a setting unlike any in recent diplomatic memory.
This is no ordinary visit. For Zelenskyy, it’s a second chance—laden with risk, but also possibility. Unlike his last Oval Office meeting, which ended in what many described as humiliation, this time the optics are very different.
Back then, Zelenskyy was berated by his American hosts, denied a luncheon, and shown the door. Trump told him he could “come back when he is ready for peace.” The incident fractured ties between Washington and Kyiv, leaving them in disarray.
Now, the Ukrainian leader arrives at a forum carefully engineered to avoid another debacle.
European leaders will be in attendance, reports stated. French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be among them.
Their presence is unprecedented at the White House during wartime.
“The President invited them to come,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quoted as saying, brushing aside concerns that Zelenskyy could be coerced into a deal. He dismissed such fears as a “stupid media narrative.”
But the message behind the gathering is unmistakable: Europe is not confident that the Trump-Putin backchannel will secure Ukrainian interests, and it intends to have a seat at the table in any future peace arrangement.
Trump’s summit in Anchorage with Putin was billed as a diplomatic breakthrough. Instead of pushing for a ceasefire, the US president signaled a shift toward a “direct peace agreement,” openly suggesting that territorial concessions might be on the table. He reportedly told European officials that Putin still insists on the full eastern Donbas region—a demand Kyiv considers constitutionally impossible.
Trump went further. Just hours before Zelenskyy’s arrival, he categorically ruled out Ukraine’s future in NATO and dismissed any hope of Kyiv reclaiming Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. These public conditions sent shockwaves through European capitals.
Even as Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, floated the idea that Moscow might accept NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine—calling the proposal “game-changing”—many allies remained uneasy. The shifting tone from Washington has done little to calm concerns.
For Kyiv, there is memory of past betrayals.
From the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to the 1997 Treaty of Friendship, every agreement signed with Moscow has eventually been broken. Ceasefires have been declared and then swiftly violated. The idea of territorial “swaps” or “concessions,” now circulating in US policy circles, is viewed in Ukraine as nothing short of legitimising aggression.
Zelenskyy, aware of the delicate optics, is treading carefully. On social media platform X, he struck a markedly diplomatic tone, writing: “I am grateful for the invitation” to Washington and vowing to discuss “all the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”
Reports highlighted that this shift is strategic. In the past, Trump accused him of “gambling with World War III,” and Vice President JD Vance chided him for a lack of gratitude.
Now, under the guidance of European leaders well-versed in Trump’s style of negotiation, Zelenskyy has been advised to temper confrontation with appreciation. Macron, Starmer, and others have reportedly urged him to avoid provocation, emphasising that Trump responds to deference and flattery.
But the challenge remains immense. With Trump hinting that peace may come at Kyiv’s expense, and Putin still demanding territorial gains, Zelenskyy faces a complex diplomatic test. Monday’s meeting is a rare moment—for Trump to portray himself as the dealmaker who can end a war he once claimed he could stop in a single day, and for Zelenskyy to make his case without triggering another rupture.
For Europe, the concern is broader: that Washington may be edging closer to Putin’s terms. The red-carpet treatment Putin received in Alaska—Trump applauding as the Russian leader entered his armoured limousine—was celebrated in Moscow but caused discomfort across Europe, where the war’s death toll and atrocities remain deeply felt.
In the end, Zelenskyy must do more than avoid humiliation. He must convince Trump that a peace shaped on Putin’s terms risks not resolution, but deeper instability. And he must do it on Trump’s turf, in Trump’s language, without losing Ukraine’s ground.
For now, the gamble is whether Zelenskyy can play Trump’s game—and still protect Ukraine’s.
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