All-Out Effort to Persuade Trump: European Leaders Head to the U.S. with Zelensky

Yonhap News Agency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be accompanied by European leaders when he visits the White House in the United States on the 18th (local time).

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, wrote on her X (formerly Twitter) account on the 17th, "At President Zelensky's request, I will attend tomorrow's meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump and leaders from various European countries."

According to foreign media reports, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will also join this visit to the United States.

The French ?lys?e Palace also announced that President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Washington together with President Zelensky. In a statement, the ?lys?e said, "The goal is to achieve a just and sustainable peace that guarantees Ukraine's core interests and European security through cooperation between Europe and the United States."

Alexander Stubb, President of Finland, who is known to have developed a friendship with President Trump through golf, also stated, "I will attend the meeting in Washington on Monday," and added, "This meeting is hosted by President Trump."

The collective meeting between President Zelensky and the European leaders with President Trump is seen as an effort to dispel and persuade against suspicions that President Trump may have tilted toward Russian President Vladimir Putin following the U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on the 15th.

There are also concerns that if President Zelensky were to meet President Trump alone, as in the White House meeting last February, he could be publicly rebuked or unilaterally pressured to make territorial concessions.

Before heading to the United States, President Zelensky will first meet with President von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on the afternoon of the same day.

The two leaders are scheduled to attend a virtual meeting at 3 p.m. titled "Coalition of Willing for Postwar Security Guarantees for Ukraine," which will be led by the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

It is expected that the participating leaders will review President Putin's proposal, which was conveyed through President Trump after the Alaska summit, and discuss measures to maintain Ukraine's security and peace.

At the summit on the 15th, President Putin is reported to have proposed to President Trump a written guarantee stating, "If Ukraine withdraws from the Donbas region, there will be a ceasefire based on the current front lines, and there will be no further attacks on Ukraine or any European country in the future."