The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday will lead a teleconference among the “coalition of the willing” — countries that have indicated they will provide troops and other support to Ukraine at the end of the war, according to a European official.
Ahead of the summit, Trump said he supported some American role in providing security guarantees — some form of assurance or support from Washington to deter Russia from attacking again after a peace deal is agreed. Nordic and Baltic leaders welcomed those commitments again after Trump spoke with European officials late Friday.
While Trump did much more than usual to consult with Europe in the lead-up to the summit with Putin and after, the frequent contact does not seem to have yielded tangible results. European officials are relieved that Trump did not agree to a deal with Putin but disappointed that the threat of steep secondary tariffs targeting third countries buying Russian oil was tabled.
“They want to try to influence the negotiation process as much as possible, because they know Trump really wants to do it this way, and they don’t want to leave the initiative to Putin,” said Giuseppe Spatafora, a former NATO official who is now a research analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies. “In general, the Europeans talk much more often to Trump than during the first 100 days, which is good. They have influence. But it’s limited.”
Zelenskyy’s last visit to the Oval Office in February quickly went off the rails when Vice President JD Vance and later Trump both lectured him for not being grateful enough for American support and overplaying what they said was a weak diplomatic position. Zelenskyy’s decision to wear a black polo, black pants and boots rather than a suit further soured the atmosphere.
But Trump and Zelenskyy have been on better terms in recent meetings, as Kyiv’s allies sought to improve the relationship and Trump’s frustration with Putin mounted.
