BRUSSELS, Belgium, Aug 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - European leaders will join 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Washington on 
Monday seeking an end to Moscow's invasion, after President Donald Trump 
dropped his push for a ceasefire following an Alaska summit with Russian 
leader Vladimir Putin.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after the Kremlin 
ordered the invasion, had been one of Trump's core demands before the summit, 
to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited.

But after the meeting yielded no breakthrough, Trump ruled out an immediate 
ceasefire in Ukraine -- a move that would appear to favour Putin, who has 
long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal.

Ukraine and its European allies have criticised Putin's stance as a way to 
buy time and press Russia's battlefield advances.

The leaders heading to Washington on Monday to try and bend Trump's ear on 
the matter include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President 
Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission 
President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ahead of the visit, von der Leyen said on X she would welcome Zelensky for a 
meeting in Brussels on Sunday which other European leaders would join by 
video, before accompanying the Ukrainian leader on his US trip at his 
"request" and with "other European leaders".

The German government, which confirmed Merz was going, said it would try to 
emphasise "interest in a swift peace agreement in Ukraine".

Trump had briefed Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back from 
Alaska to Washington, saying afterwards that "it was determined by all that 
the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go 
directly to a peace agreement which would end the war".

Ceasefire agreements "often times do not hold up," Trump argued on his Truth 
Social platform.

But Zelensky has appeared unconvinced by the change of tack, saying on 
Saturday that it "complicates the situation".

If Moscow lacks "the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it 
may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement 
(something) far greater -- peaceful coexistence with its neighbours for 
decades," he said on social media.

European leaders for their part have expressed unease over Trump's outreach 
to Putin from the outset.

- 'Harsh reality' -

Trump expressed support during his call with Zelensky and European leaders 
for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two eastern Ukrainian regions 
that Russia largely controls in exchange for freezing the frontline in two 
others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.

Putin "de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas," an area consisting of the 
Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.

In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port 
region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities 
are still under Ukrainian control.

Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 
2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its 
troops still do not fully control any of them.

"The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas," the source said.

Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine 
security guarantees, an assurance Merz hailed as "significant progress".

But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European 
Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to "drag out 
negotiations" with no commitment to end the bloodshed.

"The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any 
time soon," Kallas said.

- Zelensky back in White House -

The diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky's talks at the White House on 
Monday with the European leaders in tow.

The Ukrainian president's last Oval Office visit in February ended in an 
extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly 
berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid.

In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, 
Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal 
as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin.

"It's really up to President Zelensky to get it done," Trump said.

Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine rages on, with both Kyiv and Moscow 
launching attack drones at each other Sunday.

In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European 
countries not to engage in any "behind-the-scenes intrigues" that could 
disrupt what he called "this emerging progress".