Starmer, Macron, Others To Join Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting At White House
…Territorial Swap Impossible In Our Constitution – Zelenskyy
…Ukraine Alone Will Decide On Its Borders – EU Commission
UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, French President, Emmanuel Macron, and other European leaders will head to the United States on Monday for a meeting with President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The meeting earlier scheduled to be held between Trump and Zelenskyy will now become a high powered gathering, which is seen as a test of Western unity in the face of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also expected at the meeting.
A statement by the UK government said Starmer and his counterparts “stand ready to support this next phase of further talks and will reaffirm their backing for Ukraine.”
The meeting follows the Alaska summit on Friday, where President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were unable to strike a deal on a ceasefire.
European countries, concerned about Trump’s willingness to press Ukraine for rapid negotiations, are now bringing their message directly to America.
Speaking at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Sunday, Zelenskyy categorically ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia.
“Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. It is impossible to negotiate them now under the pressure of fighting,” he said.
“What we need first is a ceasefire and then real negotiations. But I must stress again: a territorial swap is impossible under our constitution. Our borders cannot be traded away,” he added.
Zelenskyy argued that only a trilateral summit involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States could meaningfully address territorial issues. At the same time, he called for stronger guarantees from the United States.
“We need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO,” he said, referring to the alliance’s mutual defense clause.
Von der Leyen strongly backed Ukraine’s position, rejecting any idea of imposed territorial changes.
She said, “International borders cannot be changed by force. These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone. These decisions must not be taken without Ukraine at the table.”
The Commission president also said that Europe would continue its sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine’s path to EU membership.
“We will continue to support you for as long as it takes,” she told Zelenskyy.
Von der Leyen added that any peace deal must include security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe.
“Peace must be achieved through strength. Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty, maintain its armed forces without restriction, and receive assistance from partners,” she said.
Monday’s meeting is very significant, especially after Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House in February, when a tense Oval Office confrontation with Trump made headlines.
European leaders now hope that their collective presence will help steady the negotiations and prevent a repeat of that scene.
“This unity helps reach real peace, America is with us, and we must continue to speak together,” Zelenskyy said in Brussels, Belgium, thanking the EU for its military, economic, and humanitarian support.
Starmer, Macron, Others To Join Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting At White House is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
