The allies of Ukraine meet while Zenskyy travels to Washington to meet Trump
Ottawa-Ukraine and his allies held a virtual meeting on Sunday, while President Volodyymyr Zenskyy is preparing for a discussion with high efforts with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, Monday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said in a Sunday afternoon statement that he participated in the call with the ‘Coalition of the Willing’, a group of countries that have agreed to support Ukraine while defending against the complete invasion of Russian. The statement did not indicate that Carney would be part of Monday’s discussions.
“The prime minister joined others in the coalition to welcome both the leadership of President Trump in building the possibility of ending the illegal war of Russia in Ukraine, and the openness of the United States to offer security guarantees to supplement the support of the Coalition for Oekrae and Safety.
Trump, who came from his last attempt to get peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday without a deal in Alaska, hinted on social media that the things shifted.
“Great progress on Russia. Stay informed!” He posted on Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump will organize Zolenskyy in Washington, together with European leaders and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday.
A member of the Trump administration said CNN that Putin had been agreed that the US and European allies Ukraine could offer a security guarantee that was comparable to the collective defense of NATO as part of a deal to end the war.
Steve Witkoff, who took the conversations on a military basis in Alaska on Friday, called it a “game-changing” concession by the Russians.
He did not offer many details about how such an arrangement would work.
NATO’s Article 5 Collective Defense Agreement states that an attack on one of the 31 Member States is an attack on everyone. It was only invoked once in the 70-year history of the group, after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Ukraine has been pushing for years for NATO membership. In 2023, the members of the Alliance entered a road to membership as soon as the conditions were considered suitable, something that many experts say that can only happen if the country is no longer at war with Russia.
However, Putin has always been against Ukraine who join the Alliance, and in recent months Trump and his administration have indicated that they do not believe that NATO membership can be on the table in the negotiations.
Witkoff characterized the safety guarantee that Putin agreed with ‘Article 5-like protection’ and said it was one of the real reasons why Ukraine wanted to become NATO.
Zenskyy and European allies have said that a security guarantee must be part of a peace agreement.
“There are no details how it will work, and what the role of America will be, will be the role of Europe and what the EU can do – and this is our main task: we need safety to work in practice such as Article 5 of NATO,” Zenskyy told reporters in Brussels on Sunday.
President Ursula von der Leyen from the European Commission, who spoke in Besides Zenskyy in Brussels, welcomed the news of the White House.
“We welcome the willingness of President Trump to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the ‘coalition of willingness’ inclusive of the European Union is ready to do its share,” she said.
– with files of the corresponding press
This report from the Canadian Press was first published on August 17, 2025.
Sarah Ritchie, the Canadian press
