European leaders to join Volodymyr Zelenskyy for White House meeting with Donald Trump

European leaders will join Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his crucial meeting with President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday (August 17, 2025).

The move in relation to the key White House meeting on Monday (August 18, 2025) is an apparent effort to prevent a repeat of the heated encounter Mr. Zelenskyy faced when he met Mr. Trump in February.

The European leaders’ presence at Mr. Zelenskyy’s side, demonstrating Europe’s support for Ukraine, could potentially help ease concerns in Kyiv and in other European capitals that Mr. Zelenskyy risks being railroaded into a peace deal that Trump says he wants to broker with Russia.

Ms. Von der Leyen, head of the European Union’s executive branch, posted on X that “at the request of President Zelenskyy, I will join the meeting with President Trump and other European leaders in the White House on Monday (August 18, 2025).”