Ukraine's allies meet as Zelenskyy travels to Washington to meet with Trump

Ukraine and its allies held a virtual meeting Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares for a high-stakes discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's office said in a Sunday afternoon statement that he took part in the call with the "Coalition of the Willing," a group of nations that have agreed to support Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's full-scale invasion. The statement did not indicate that Carney would be part of Monday's discussions.

"The prime minister joined others in the coalition in welcoming both the leadership of President Trump in building the opportunity to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, and the openness of the United States to providing security guarantees to supplement the coalition's support for long-term peace and security for Ukraine and Europe," Carney's office said.

Trump, who emerged from his latest attempt to broker peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday without a deal, hinted on social media that things were shifting.

"BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!" he posted on Truth Social on Sunday.

Trump is set to host Zelenskyy in Washington, along with European leaders and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday.

A member of the Trump administration told CNN that Putin had agreed the U.S. and European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee similar to NATO's collective defence as part of a deal to end the war.

Steve Witkoff, who took part in the talks on Friday at a military base in Alaska, 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 defence agreement states that an attack on one of its 31 member states constitutes an attack on all. It has been invoked just once in the group's 70-year history, after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Ukraine has been pushing for years for membership in NATO. In 2023, the alliance's members agreed on a pathway to membership once conditions were deemed to be suitable, something many experts say can only happen once the country is no longer at war with Russia.

However, Putin has always been opposed to Ukraine joining the alliance, and in recent months Trump and his administration have signalled they do not believe NATO membership can be on the table in the negotiations.

Witkoff characterized the security guarantee that Putin agreed to as "Article 5-like protection," and said it was one of the real reasons Ukraine wanted to join NATO.

Zelenskyy and European allies have said a security guarantee must be part of any peace agreement.

"There are no details how it will work, and what America’s role will be, Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do — and this is our main task: We need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO," Zelenskyy told reporters on Sunday in Brussels.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in Brussels alongside Zelenskyy, applauded the news from the White House.

"We welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the 'coalition of the willing' — including the European Union — is ready to do its share," she said.

Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Philippe Magoni, Pool