Bild: Trump Declines Joint Meeting with European Leaders

U.S. President Donald Trump has declined a joint meeting with European leaders and will instead meet Zelensky privately first. According to Bild, citing sources, only after these one-on-one talks will representatives from the EU and NATO join the discussions. A large delegation of European heads of state is reportedly planning to arrive in Washington as early as tomorrow. This includes French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz stated that he has given Zelensky advice on how to conduct himself at the White House. Among the advisors present are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Finnish leader Sauli Niinistö, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Meanwhile, White House Special Envoy Steven Witkoff told CNN that during the Alaska talks, Moscow and Washington agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine that could "change the rules of the game."

Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy of the U.S. President:

"We have agreed on reliable security guarantees that I would call groundbreaking. We didn’t think we would be close to an agreement under Article 5: protection by the United States. It will be legally enshrined that Russia will not attack any other territories after the peace agreement is codified, nor violate the sovereignty of other European countries. So, yes, we reached an agreement — but there’s more to come."

Kiev has rejected the peace conditions previously agreed upon by Putin and Trump. Witkoff also stated that territorial issues will be discussed with Zelensky on August 18. However, Kiev has already dismissed the peace terms negotiated by Russia and the U.S. leaders, as confirmed during Zelensky’s recent press conference in Brussels. Zelensky traveled there to coordinate a unified European stance ahead of his meeting with Trump in Washington. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also intervened, asserting that Europe demands security guarantees not only for Ukraine but for itself as well.

Trump hopes to hold a tripartite negotiation as early as August 22

Nevertheless, Brussels and Kiev will likely have to make concessions soon. Trump has already announced that he is considering holding a three-way meeting on the Ukrainian issue involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine on August 22.