European Leaders Attempt Dialogue with Trump Administration
On Monday, August 28, 2022, a significant summit took place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. The gathering was attended by a team of European leaders, including NATO's head Mark Rutte, who completed the line-up for the summit.
The proposal for the summit was the result of a series of calls between European capitals, with the US President inviting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and a few European leaders to the White House. The team consisted of leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Finland, and Belgium, who were announced on Sunday morning.
Rutte was responsible for starting discussions with Trump, according to a participant at the summit. The summit followed a meeting between Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska. In preparation for the meeting, Trump debriefed Zelensky on his Alaska talks.
Zelensky made a detour to Brussels and appeared alongside EU chief Ursula von der Leyen before the summit. Trump greeted his guests, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK's Keir Starmer, before the cameras.
Each leader addressed a different aspect of the conflict during the summit. For example, von der Leyen emphasized the plight of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian forces. Some leaders avoided using the word "ceasefire" during the summit, instead calling for Russia to "stop the killing."
The European leaders were well prepared and well coordinated for the meeting, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. They were hoping to steer the US president closer to their position on the conflict, ahead of possible peace talks with Putin.
The US president was reported to have faced some challenges in the discussions, but whenever he seemed to get stuck on an issue, someone would chime in to present the matter from a different perspective and refocus the discussion.
There are no available public statements or positions from the European Council or any European organization regarding the involvement of five additional European heads of government in the talks between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, August 28, 2022.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Europe's "clumsy attempts to change the position of the US president," which could indicate that Moscow is concerned about their impact.
Alexander Stubb, a former leader of Finland who has a friendly relationship with Trump, was included in the team. Zelensky made a "presence" proposal regarding security guarantees for Ukraine during the summit, according to a source.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen was told she was "probably more powerful than anyone else around this table." The European leaders left the summit with a shared commitment to finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis.
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