Seven European leaders gathered at the White House to support Ukraine before a crucial meeting with Trump and Zelensky. The agenda focused on security guarantees for Ukraine and potential territorial concessions, which Trump views as necessary for peace. Despite past tensions, advisors are optimistic about the outcome. Zelensky's stance against ceding territory to Russia was reiterated in social media posts before the meeting, while Trump claimed Zelensky could end the war with Russia if he desired. A trilateral summit with Putin has yet to receive public endorsement from the Russian leader.
Zelensky made clear in his social media posts ahead of the meeting that while he and those leaders all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably, he won't cede territory to Russia.
Trump doubled down on this stance in a Truth Social post just before Zelensky arrived in D.C. late Sunday that said the Ukrainian leader can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to.
The intrigue: Their last Oval Office meeting was disastrous, but two Trump advisers tell Axios they're not expecting a repeat.
The leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Finland, NATO and the EU have already arrived at the White House for a meeting scheduled to begin at 2:30pm ET.
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