On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington for talks with Donald Trump. The visit comes against the backdrop of a shift in the US president’s stance following his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelensky recalls his previous visit to the White House in February, when he was publicly humiliated, which led to a crisis in relations between Ukraine and the US. Now, despite the possibility of a repeat of the same situation, the Ukrainian president intends to demonstrate a willingness to cooperate to avoid accusations of blocking the peace process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initially, Kyiv hoped that no agreements would be reached during Trump’s talks with Putin without Ukraine’s participation. However, the US president soon said that “the best way to end a terrible war is to move to a peace agreement”, and effectively ignored the demand for an unconditional ceasefire. Moreover, diplomatic sources have reported that Trump, during a telephone conversation with Zelensky, voiced Putin’s proposal: Ukraine should agree to give up part of its territories in exchange for an end to hostilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European capitals are highly concerned about possible concessions from the United States. It is reported that Finnish President Alexander Stubb will travel to Washington with Zelensky, who aims to smooth the atmosphere of the negotiations and convince the American leader to take European interests into account. A visit by the new NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, is also possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts note that European countries are eager to avoid repeating diplomatic failures, so they are trying to influence the process to the extent that Trump allows. The EU admits that Trump’s meeting with Putin did not end in a “disaster”, but it left an inevitable disappointment. The American president did not initiate new sanctions in the event of a failure of the negotiations and adopted Moscow’s rhetoric regarding a “grand deal” instead of an immediate ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, there are concerns in Europe that hosting Putin in Alaska could lend him international legitimacy without encouraging genuine steps towards peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump plans to meet with Zelensky first and then invite Putin for trilateral talks. However, the Russian president has so far denied the very possibility of meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This summit will be a test for Ukraine; it is essential to avoid pressure for concessions and maintain support from the United States and Europe. Trump has already said that he sees the possibility of a quick peace if Ukraine makes concessions on its territories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington for talks with Donald Trump. The visit comes against the backdrop of a shift in the US president’s stance following his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Zelensky recalls his previous visit to the White House in February, when he was publicly humiliated, which led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":17121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n