NATO chief might join Zelenskyy, European leaders for Washington talks

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte may join Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his upcoming trip to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump following his Alaska summit with the Russian president.

According to sources familiar with the matter that were cited by Politico, Rutte, who has developed close ties with Donald Trump, may arrive in Washington on the same day as Zelenskyy, August 18.

As noted by the publication, European leaders have voiced concerns about the possible consequences of the Zelensky–Trump meeting, fearing a repeat of the negative outcome of their heated encounter on February 28 in the Oval Office that set the relationship back for months.

Commenting on his talks with Putin, Trump said that he would meet first with Zelenskyy and then would look to bring Putin and the Ukrainian leader together for a trilateral session. Putin has so far rejected meeting with Zelenskyy and he gave no indication in Alaska whether he had changed that position.

As the article puts it, Europe and Ukraine see the upcoming Washington summit as key "to making sure that Trump does not accede to demands from Putin that they find unacceptable, such as ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia that Moscow has only partially taken control of."

By Nazrin Sadigova