President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold a meeting together on Monday afternoon before they are joined by European officials traveling to Washington for key talks on the future of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Two sources told NewsNation’s Libbey Dean and Kevin Bohn that Trump and Zelensky will hold the initial meeting, which will also be attended by Vice President Vance.
That will be a rerun of the participants from an Oval Office meeting in February that went badly off the rails as Vance and Trump criticized Zelensky over his handling of the war, and for not being more appreciative of U.S. support.
The February meeting immediately underscored fears in Europe that the U.S. under Trump was sliding away from Ukraine and toward Russia over the conflict.
Those fears were revisited when Trump decided to hold a meeting on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a significant public relations win for the leader of the Kremlin, who has been unwelcome in Western countries since the start of the war.
European leaders planning to attend the larger meeting on Monday include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has developed a strong relationship with Trump, is also to attend.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday pushed back at suggestions that Zelensky would be pushed into an unacceptable deal by the Trump administration.
“They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelensky from being bullied,” Rubio said Sunday during an interview with CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
“They’re coming here tomorrow because we’ve been working with the Europeans. We talked to them last week. There were meetings in the U.K. over the following, the previous weekend.”
Rubio, who attended Friday’s summit along with Trump’s envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, also said the U.S. had asked Putin for concessions to reach a peace deal. Rubio’s appearances on Sunday shows seemed intended to convey a number of messages, including that the U.S. was trying to broker an acceptable deal that could garner Ukraine’s support.
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