LONDON -- President Donald Trump on Sunday teased what he said would be a "big day" as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a host of European leaders prepared for a White House meeting that Trump said can end Russia's invasion of Ukraine "almost immediately."Monday's Washington, D.C., summit follows Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.Since that meeting, Trump appears to have dropped his demand for Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire and is now pressuring Kyiv to accept territorial concessions to secure a peace deal.On Sunday, Trump explicitly said Ukraine will not regain Crimea -- occupied by Russia in 2014.
The president also repeated that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO, though White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Zelenskyy have hinted at alternative security guarantees involving the U.S."President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Trump wrote on social media on Sunday.The president has previously incorrectly framed Ukraine as the initiator of the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.That invasion followed Moscow's cross-border aggression in 2014, which saw Russia seize Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region."Big day at the White House tomorrow," Trump added.
"I've never had so many European leaders at one time.It's my great honor to host them!!!"President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb.
28, 2025.Ben Curtis/AP"NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE," Trump added."Some things never change!!!"Trump is expected to greet Zelenskyy outside the West Wing at 1 p.m.
ET, according to a schedule published by the White House, after which they will hold a bilateral meeting.The president is scheduled to take photos with European leaders at around 2:30 p.m.
ET and hold a multilateral meeting with them at 3 p.m.Vice ...