European Allies Head to DC for Key Conclave With Trump on Ukraine

After meeting Vladimir Putin on Friday, President Donald Trump now has to win over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies if his efforts to broker peace have any chance of success. Zelenskiy and several European leaders arrive in Washington anxious to find out what Trump committed to at his summit with the Russian president. Senior European diplomats privately vented frustration at the outcome of Trump’s meeting with Putin, noting the Russian leader appeared to have gained most from the summit.

While the US is expected to focus on territorial concessions demanded by Russia in his talks with the Europeans, Kyiv will seek to pin down possible security guarantees, according to a person familiar with the matter. In a weekend call, Trump told allies he wanted to reach a deal quickly and would urge Ukraine to agree to one, with the goal of holding a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting within a week. That’s a timeline that many of the Europeans regard as too aggressive, given how many issues remain unresolved.

While Asian and European shares advanced or were little changed after Trump’s summit with Putin ended without any new sanctions on Russia or buyers of its crude, investors are turning their attention to Monday’s talks in DC for clues on where markets head next. Market reaction is likely to be mild “as a lot still rests on Ukraine’s willingness to accept the terms from Russia,” said Jordan Rochester, head of macro strategy for EMEA at Mizuho. “But hope is a powerful thing.”