‘Diplomatic front line’ with Zensky to Washington for conversation with Trump

A “diplomatic front line” of European leaders will go tomorrow with the Ukrainian president Zensky to Washington to talk to US President Trump about the war in Ukraine.

Today it became clear that the European delegation consists of German Chancellor Merz, NATO-Secretary-General Rutte, European Commission President Von der Leyen, French President Macron, Italian Prime Minister Meloni and Finnish President Stubb. They travel with Zensky to the American capital.

This afternoon they spoke with a larger group of European leaders of the Coalition of the Willing about the consultation of tomorrow. At a press conference prior to the video call, Von der Leyen said that the EU will continue to support Ukraine, “as long as necessary”.

According to her, a new sanction package is being prepared that the Russian war economy must disrupt in order to bring Russian president Putin to the negotiating table. “

Editor European Union Chris Ostendorf:

“It is in war terms the diplomatic front line that Europe sends to Washington tomorrow. The intention is to get Trump back into the Ukrainian camp again with this heavy delegation.

Friday it became clear that Putin had succeeded again in talking Trump. Suddenly a cease-fire was no longer the tough condition for further conversations. According to Putin, Trump also understood the historical context of the conflict with Ukraine. Reason enough for Europe not to leave Zensky to his fate during his visit to the White House.

And so Rutte is joining to flatter Trump and compliment with his initiative to try to put an end to the war. The chairman of the European Commission von der Leyen is joining to secure European strategic interests. A group of European government leaders who already explained to Trump last week that there should be core security guarantees, also connects in The Oval Office.

All this in the hope that this time the American president will again adjust to the last with whom he spoke. And that is important, in the run -up to possible negotiations between Trump, Putin and Zensky. “

Both von der Leyen and Zensky spoke at the press conference on security guarantees and mentioned Article 5 of NATO as an example. That article states that an attack on one country, equal to an attack on all.

According to the American top diplomat Witkoff, President Putin has agreed that the US and European allies can offer security guarantees to Ukraine that would resemble Article 5 of NATO. Putin is said to have made the commitment on the top in Alaska of Friday.

“We have succeeded in getting the following concession: that the United States can offer protection that is comparable to Article 5 of NATO.” A Ukrainian NATO membership is not negotiable in terms of Russia. According to Witkoff, one of the most important motives of Ukraine can still be met to become a member of the alliance.

Making concessions

The Ukrainian territory is also one of the hot issues in the conversation with Trump tomorrow. According to Witkoff, the Russians also made concessions with regard to five Ukrainian regions, but he did not explain this further.

The top diplomat states all in all that Putin’s concessions amount to “a significant shift over previous conversations”.

This shift would be the reason that Trump no longer thinks that there should first be a ceasefire in Ukraine before further negotiations. The US President reported yesterday that he wants to skip that step and immediately bet on a comprehensive peace agreement.

Inappropriate requirements

Russia has not left much about the conversations in Alaska. The British newspaper De Financial Times reported yesterday that Putin repeated that “the root causes of the conflict” should be tackled. For example, Russia wants Ukraine to be demilitarized, which Ukraine finds unacceptable.

The Kremlin would have offered to “freeze” the rest of the front lines if Ukraine gives up the entire Donbas region. Selency has always called the handing in territory. EC chairman Von der Leyen today emphasized that “international boundaries cannot change due to military violence” and that only Ukraine decides what happens to the country.