On 18 August, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Council President Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met in Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump for a summit on the terms of a possible peace agreement in Ukraine. The summit followed the 15 August meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, the main result of which was to bring Putin out of the diplomatic isolation he had been in since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Worried that the White House could end up aligning with the Kremlin, the Europeans called for a ceasefire prior to any direct talks between Zelensky and Putin, which could begin in the coming weeks. The European leaders also denounced any territorial concessions imposed by force, in violation of international law, and confirmed their intention to maintain the dual threat of new sanctions and increased military aid to Ukraine in order to push the Russian aggressor to negotiate. They also insisted on the implementation of “security guarantees” likely to reassure Kiev and deter Moscow from launching new offensives in the event of a cessation of hostilities.
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