European leaders, as well as the Nato chief, joining Zelensky for talks with Trump in Washington makes it an extraordinarily high-level meeting. This reveals how high their concern is that the US president will help Vladimir Putin defeat Ukraine by backing his demands - such as no ceasefire before final settlement.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon at the White House, just days after Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin left an Alaska summit without a ceasefire deal.