European leaders mobilize on Ukraine’s security guarantees ahead of potential Putin-Zelensky-Trump summit

BRUSSELS, Belgium — European leaders are set to meet to coordinate the next steps on security guarantees for Ukraine after high-level talks in Washington, as diplomatic efforts intensify ahead of a possible trilateral summit involving Kyiv and Moscow.

Following the White House talks, they are expected to reconvene in multiple formats over the coming days to align positions before the next high-level contact with Washington and Kyiv.

EU ambassadors met early Aug. 19 to prepare for a call with the Coalition of the Willing leaders and a subsequent virtual summit of EU leaders to follow up on the White House discussions.

The talks, convened by European Council President Antonio Costa, are expected to debrief leaders and prepare further discussions on the security guarantees Ukraine's backers can provide to prevent further Russian aggression.

European officials confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that a series of meetings among the participant countries of the "Coalition of the Willing" could take place in the coming days to hash out the details.

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The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

National security advisors are expected to hammer out a skeleton of a proposal over the next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

A broad understanding was there that this should include a well-equipped Ukrainian Armed Forces without limitation on its size or decision-making, a future multinational "reassurance force" ready to support Kyiv after a potential ceasefire, as well as U.S. support for any guarantees, they said.

Next to the other two, in what form the latter might come remains vague after the White House talks, as Washington up until now has been reluctant to commit to the extent of its involvement.

European officials have pointed out that Trump has started using the term "presence of the United States" in addition to previously speaking about those security guarantees to be provided in "coordination with the United States."

"Today was really about security guarantees, the U.S. getting more involved there, and all the details to be hammered out over the coming days," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters in Washington after the talks.

Another virtual meeting between European leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump could also happen once a basic framework has been drafted to discuss the specifics of the security guarantees that Western allies might collectively offer Kyiv.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb told CNN Trump's decision to call Russian President Vladimir Putin during the meeting had been a "coordinated" move with European leaders as well as President Volodymyr Zelensky to test the ground for a possible future meeting.

The timeline for potential high-level diplomacy involving Russia and Ukraine is also accelerating. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters that a possible summit between Putin and Zelensky could take place within two weeks.

"We're working on that now to try to set that up for them to meet somewhere," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told Fox News.

"If that goes well, hopefully the next meeting will be a meeting between Presidents Putin, Trump, and Zelensky, where we hope to finalize a deal. We're not there yet, but that's what we're aiming toward," he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron hinted that the announcement of Putin-Zelensky talks could be imminent. "It could be mere hours before the details of Putin-Zelensky talks are set," Macron said, suggesting that negotiations on the format were in their final stages.

In addition, Macron floated the idea of a broader trilateral summit within three weeks involving Ukraine, Russia, and other Western powers.

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The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova