BRUSSELS, August 18. /TASS/. European leaders are heading to Washington in an attempt to prevent US President Donald Trump from increasing pressure on Vladimir Zelensky and putting forth new demands on Ukraine on the peace settlement following talks between the US leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Politico said, citing European diplomats.

Diplomats told Politico that "they expected European leaders to accompany Zelensky in a bid to ensure key red lines are not crossed, and that Ukraine is not forced against its will to give up territory to secure a deal."

The diplomats noted that Europe’s security is the biggest concern. According to the sources, the European leaders want to see firm security guarantees as the result of the talks. "This is the first time that the US has been explicit in backing guarantees and this enables a corner to be turned on any possible deal," one European diplomat said. "The president needs to be clear with Zelensky that the US is committed to guarantees and then work on specifying what they are signing up to," he added.

The diplomatic sources noted that the trip was initiated by Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will also join Zelensky in Washington for the meeting with the American leader.

Following the meeting with Putin in Alaska on August 15, Trump held a phone conversation with Zelensky as well as with the leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and France, the NATO secretary general and the head of the European Commission. Later, Zelensky said that he is going to discuss the details of ending the conflict with Trump in Washington on Monday.

On August 15, a summit between Russia and the US took place at a military base in Alaska. The talks lasted more than three hours and included several formats: one-on-one in the American leader’s limousine en route to the main venue and in a small group of "three on three." The Russian delegation included Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the US delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Following the talks, Putin told the press that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit. The Russian leader also called for a new beginning in bilateral relations and a return to cooperation. He invited Trump to Moscow. For his part, the US president announced the progress achieved in the talks but noted that the two sides had not reached an agreement on everything.