‘I’ll get it done’, Trump insists, as European leaders arrive in Washington DC for Ukraine talks alongside Zelenskyy – live | Ukraine

European leaders are expected to start announcing at the White House soon.

But, as per official schedule, US president Trump will meet with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy first in about an hour from now, with the Europeans only joining the talks later.

We have a live stream showing their arrival here:

We have just received the latest update from the Ukrainian authorities on the overnight Russian strikes on the country, with AFP reporting that the total number of killed has gone up to 14.

The early-morning drone attack on Kharkiv reduced part of a five-storey residential building to rubble and sparked fires on at least three floors, governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.

“Seven civilians, including two children, have been killed in the attack,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that 23 people were wounded.

The city near the Russian border was also hit hours earlier by a ballistic missile that wounded at least 11 people, Mayor Igor Terekhov said.

Klymenko said another three people were killed and 23 wounded in a strike on the Zaporizhzhia region.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling killed four people in settlements still under Ukrainian control – Dobropillia and Kostiantynivka, regional prosecutors said.

Russia’s Putin calls leaders of Brazil, India, South Africa ahead of Zelenskyy’s DC visit

Pjotr Sauer

Russian affairs reporter

Russia’s Vladimir Putin also engaged in a burst of diplomacy on Monday, phoning the leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa to underscore that he is not isolated ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit.

The Kremlin said Putin briefed the three leaders in separate calls on the outcome of the Russia-US summit in Alaska.

Ahead of Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump, Putin is seeking to rally support for his sweeping conditions to end the war in Ukraine from states that have either aligned with Moscow or chosen neutrality.

Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and China form the core of the BRICS economic bloc, which Moscow has relied on heavily since being shut out of western markets after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

European Council president António Costa has just said that there will be a further meeting with 27 EU countries to discuss today’s talks at the White House, taking place tomorrow.

He said:

“I have convened a video conference of the members of the European Council for tomorrow at 13.00 CEST, for a debriefing of today’s meetings in Washington DC about Ukraine.

Together with the US, the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

First European leaders are in Washington now, with UK prime minister Keir Starmer landing not long ago, and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte seen entering the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.

US envoy Keith Kellogg later posted a picture from his meeting with Rutte, alongside US Nato ambassador Matt Whitaker.

Sky News reported that the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen and the Finnish president Alexander Stubb were in the building too, preparing for the White House visit.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, French president Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor Friedrich Merz are also expected in Washington today.

Poland set to miss summit amid conflict between president, government on foreign policy

Jakub Krupa

On the European side of the table, there will be one notable absence as Poland will not have a representative, despite being part of the previous rounds of consultations with Trump, including days before the Alaska summit last week.

Since his election, the country’s new nationalist and Trump-backed president, Karol Nawrocki, has been at loggerheads with the pro-European coalition government led by former European Council president, Donald Tusk, including over who owns the relationship with the US.

Poland’s constitution says somewhat vaguely that:

The President of the Republic shall cooperate with the prime minister and the appropriate minister in respect of foreign policy.

Ahead of last week’s Alaska summit, there had been some confusion as to who would take part in the preparatory calls because the two disagreed over their constitutional roles. Eventually Tusk joined the internal European call and the debrief with the “Coalition of the Willing”, but it was his staunch political rival, Nawrocki, who represented Poland at the main call with Trump.

Ahead of today’s meeting, it was the foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, who represented Poland at the preparatory call in the “Coalition of the Willing” format over the weekend, further raising some eyebrows.

Still, on Sunday, Nawrocki’s spokesperson appeared to be suggesting that the president was considering joining the European leaders’ trip to the US, and he promised a further update by the end of the day. But no official confirmation came through at all.

The two camps eventually ended up pointing fingers at each other on Monday after it emerged that there would be no Polish representation after all.

Speaking at a ceremony in Warsaw, Nawrocki said he was clear in his conversations with Trump about his mistrust of Vladimir Putin and Russia, but argued that it was the government’s role to participate in this particular format as Tusk has been attending previous summits of the coalition.

He added that he was the only European leader with an upcoming bilateral meeting with Trump at the White House, too – on 3 September – and he would raise these issues then.

But Poland’s foreign minister Sikorski was quick to pick up on this point, saying:

“I inform you that it is the President of the United States who issues invitations to meetings at the White House, with whom Polish representatives of the Maga movement, as well as President @NawrockiKn personally, have privileged relations.

I ask that they make use of these relations for the benefit of Poland and Europe.”

His comments sparked a further reaction from Nawrocki’s foreign policy aide Marcin Przydacz, who said that as Sikorski was part of the pre-meeting call on Sunday, it was up to him to get Poland to join the meeting, with the president sticking to his original plans for next month’s visit instead.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US envoy Keith Kellogg ahead of what he described as a “very serious” meeting with Trump and other European leaders later today.

“When peace is discussed for one country in Europe, it means peace for all of Europe. We are ready to continue working with maximum effort to end the war and to ensure reliable security. These are the key issues.

Last night, Russian attacks on our cities continued – among those killed were two children, and dozens of people were wounded. People were simply sleeping when the Russian army launched strikes on the cities.

We discussed the battlefield situation and our strong diplomatic capabilities – Ukraine’s and all of Europe’s together with America. Russia can only be forced into peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength. We have to do everything right to make peace happen. Thank you!”

In another post, Trump told his critics “I know exactly what I’m doing,” as he explained that he is there “to stop [the war], not to prosecute it any further.”

He said:

“I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them. They are “STUPID” people, with no common sense, intelligence, or understanding, and they only make the current R/U disaster more difficult to FIX.”

He then insisted:

Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!!

US president Donald Trump has just posted on his Truth Social account ahead of today’s meeting with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and the group of European leaders.

Here is what he said:

“I am totally convinced that if Russia raised their hands and said, “We give up, we concede, we surrender, we will GIVE Ukraine and the great United States of America, the most revered, respected, and powerful of all countries, EVER, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and everything surrounding them for a thousand miles, the Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners would say that this was a bad and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump, one of the worst days in the history of our Country.”

But that’s why they are the FAKE NEWS, and the badly failing Radical Left Democrats. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”

Earlier, he said:

“A big day at the White House. We have never had so many European Leaders here at one time. A great honor for America!!! Lets see what the results will be??? President DJT”

British officials said the leaders planned to use that meeting to flesh out details of the Nato-style guarantees which were promised over the weekend by Steve Witkoff, the president’s Ukraine envoy.

Those briefed on the meetings say however they do not expect a deal to be signed on Monday, describing the flurry of diplomatic activity as a “step towards” eventual peace.

A Downing Street spokesperson said on Monday: “We welcome [the fact] that the US is prepared to give security guarantees. That is going to be an important aspect of the discussions, both today and in the period ahead.

“For the coalition of the willing to be successful in deterring Putin – once we’ve got to a peace – from coming again, the United States’ involvement in providing that deterrence is actually critical.”

The person added: “President Putin has never been serious about peace,” adding that the UK could still back further sanctions on Moscow despite Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, casting doubt that more sanctions would work.

Starmer has been at the forefront of efforts to put together an alliance of countries who are willing to commit troops and other resources to defend Ukraine should Russia try to invade again, but has always said such a plan would require US support to work.

British officials were delighted therefore when Witkoff told CNN over the weekend that the US and Europe could “effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee”, referring to Nato’s principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

Starmer and his ministers have lavished praise on Trump since his meeting in Alaska with the Russian president, despite reports that the US president had backed a plan which would allow Russia to seize Ukrainian territory it does not currently occupy.

Downing Street would not comment on territorial disputes on Monday, saying the subject was one for Zelenskyy to decide, but Starmer’s spokesperson did indicate the UK was no longer pushing for an immediate ceasefire while talks continue (14:09).

We have just had the latest death toll update from the Ukrainian authorities, saying that Russian attacks overnight killed at least 10 people, just hours before presidents Zelenskyy and Trump meet in Washington, Reuters reported.

An entire family including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother were among the seven killed in an overnight drone strike on a residential neighbourhood in northeastern Kharkiv, authorities said. Twenty-three people were wounded, they said.

Three people were also killed in a ballistic missile strike on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said, adding that another 23 were wounded.

Meloni sees ‘glimmer of hope’ from Trump-Putin talks, focuses on security guarantees

Angela Giuffrida

in Rome

The Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who has long demonstrated an affinity with the US president, Donald Trump, has arrived in Washington, according to the Italian news agency, Ansa.

Before leaving Rome, Meloni’s office issued a statement referring to the video conference on Sunday with fellow European leaders, during which “the importance of continuing to work with the United States to end the conflict and achieve a peace that ensures the sovereignty and security of Ukraine” was reiterated, while confirming the need to “maintain collective pressure on Russia and ensure solid and credible security guarantees”.

On the security guarantees for Ukraine, Meloni said on Saturday that Trump had highlighted an Italian proposal during his summit with Putin in Anchorage that was “inspired by Nato’s Article 5”.

“The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the USA, ready to take action in case it is attacked again,” Meloni added.

Meloni also referred to the Trump-Putin meeting as having “finally” opened up “a glimmer of hope” on discussions of peace in Ukraine.

Meloni last travelled to Washington in April for a bilateral with Trump. The pair met again in Rome just over a week later for the funeral of Pope Francis, before which Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a brief but symbolic one-to-one talk in St Peter’s Basilica.

Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration as US president in January, and before that made a flying visit to his Mar-a-Lago golf club.

In a separate social media clip, recorded on the plane en route to Washington, we get to hear directly from the UK prime minister.

Starmer says:

“This war in Ukraine has been going on a really long time now, three plus years.

It’s hugely impacted the Ukrainians who have suffered hugely, but it’s also impacted Europe, it’s impacted every single family and community in the United Kingdom.

And so everybody wants it to end, not least the Ukrainians.

But we’ve got to get this right. We’ve got to make sure there is peace, that it is lasting peace, and that it is fair and that it is just.

And that’s why I’m travelling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face to face with President Trump and President Zelenskyy.

Because it’s in everyone’s interests, it’s in the UK’s interests that we get this right.”

UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson has been speaking to the media in the last half hour, suggesting that the UK would back a Ukraine peace deal without a ceasefire as a precondition, PA reported.

“We’ve always said we want to see a sustainable and just peace for Ukraine.

One that ensures peace returns to Europe and the Ukrainian people can live without fear of attack again, and an agreement that delivers that as soon as possible, but ends the killing and translates that into a lasting peace supported by security guarantees, would be a significantly positive step.”

Pressed on whether that marked a change of position, Starmer’s spokesperson said:

“We want to see an end to the killing. If you can bring about an end to the killing and bring about a sustained peace in one go, then all the better.”

Ukraine’s borders are for the country to determine itself in negotiations, he added, stressing that “international borders must not be changed by force.”

Germany’s Merz finds silver lining in Trump’s Alaska summit, but commiting troops continues to divide politicians

Deborah Cole

in Berlin

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz, who boarded a dawn flight to Washington on Monday, had found a silver lining for the Europeans out of the Alaska summit, saying on Saturday the United States was ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine under a peace deal.

Trump’s pledge, however, was decidedly vague, as European leaders said at least some US boots would need to be on the ground in Ukraine for the guarantee to carry any weight as a deterrent against further Russian aggression.

After Trump advisor Steve Witkoff suggested the security guarantees could be comparable to an Article 5 mutual defence protection within Nato, it begged the question whether the Europeans would commit troops of their own for Ukraine.

At least in Germany, the response appeared muted at best.

German vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil told ZDF public television he wouldn’t rule anything out but stopped well-short of a full-throated pledge.

“Now it’s about getting a ceasefire and then we can talk about everything else,” said Klingbeil, a Social Democrat.

But for the foreign minister, Johann Wadephul of Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU), the answer was a flat no, citing the growing presence of German soldiers in Lithuania – Berlin’s first permanent foreign troop deployment since the second world war.

“To do that (station an armoured brigade in Lithuania) and on top of that station troops in Ukraine would probably overtax us,” Wadephul told podcast Table.Today.

German officials attempted to sound bullish ahead of Monday’s meetings in Washington, underlining the united European front.

“Speaking directly with Donald Trump in person will certainly have an impact,” CDU MP Norbert Röttgen, a leading voice on foreign policy, told the German edition of Politico.

We see ourselves as Ukraine’s main supporter. European security is now a European matter – but we want to keep the Americans on board.

Armin Laschet, head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, saw the glass half full after the Alaska talks, noting that the lack of a deal also meant that no one-sided deal was agreed without Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Regarding any commitment of German troops as part of a security guarantee, Laschet told Berlin’s Inforadio he did not rule it out but remained guarded.

“You can’t answer the question until you know the conditions. Is it in agreement with the United Nations? Is there a UN mandate? Did Russia agree to it?”