Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and European leaders meet with Trump on ending Russia’s war

Ukraine’s future could hinge on a hastily assembled meeting today [Macau time] at the White House as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brings an extraordinary cadre of European leaders with him to show U.S. President Donald Trump a united front against Russia.

The European political heavy-hitters were left out of Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday in Alaska, and they›re looking to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.

The showing is a sign both of the progress and the possible distress coming out of the Friday summit, as many of Europe’s leaders are descending on Washington with the explicit goal of protecting Ukraine’s interests, a rare and sweeping show of diplomatic force.

Zelenskyy has rejected Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the Donbas region, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, since the Ukrainian Constitution forbids giving up territory or trading land. That also means he can’t cede Crimea either.

Instead, freezing the front line — which snakes roughly 1,000 kilometers from northeastern to southeastern Ukraine — seems to be the most the Ukrainian people might accept.

Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukrainian territory.