There is "no sign" Russia is agreeing to a three-way summit with Ukraine and the United States floated by president Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
"So far, Russia gives no sign that the trilateral will happen and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow," Mr Zelensky said in Brussels in a joint press conference with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Ms Von der Leyen has said she wanted to see such a meeting happen "as soon as possible".
The press conference was held ahead of a meeting between Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump, which is also to be attended by European leaders in Washington tomorrow seeking an end to Russia's invasion.
The White House meeting comes after Mr Trump dropped his push for a ceasefire following an Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will be meeting Mr Trump, along with other European leaders, in the White House at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are among those confirmed to attend the meeting.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he would be not be flying to Washington but would be attending virtually.
At the press conference, Mr Zelensky rejected the idea of Russia offering his country security guarantees after US and EU officials promoted the possibility.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff earlier said Mr Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to "robust security guarantees" for Ukraine during a meeting in Alaska on Friday.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the proposal as an offer of NATO-style security guarantees from the United States.
"We welcome president Trump's willingness to contribute to (NATO) Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the Coalition of the Willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share," Ms von der Leyen said.
Mr Zelensky welcomed the idea of US security guarantees, but was less positive about Russia's intentions.
"What president Trump said about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin's thoughts because Putin will not give any security guarantees," he told the press conference.
Strong and lasting peace discussed at 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting
Meanwhile, the so-called Coalition of the Willing held a video call to discuss steps towards ending the war in Ukraine and Mr Trump's summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the goal for tomorrow's talks in Washington is to present a united front between Ukraine and its European allies.
"If we show weakness today in front of Russia, we are laying the ground for future conflicts," he said.
He said Kyiv's allies in the "coalition of the willing" meeting wanted strong and lasting peace in Ukraine and for Ukraine's territorial integrity to be respected.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who participated in the call, said the priority in the talks between Mr Trump and European leaders tomorrow is to "stop the killing".
'Security guarantees' a clear objective for Trump-Zelensky meeting
He said the topic of security guarantees is a clear objective as well as focusing on the humanitarian dimension.
Mr Martin said it is very significant that the European leaders are joining Mr Zelensky.
He said it shows it is not just about the future of Ukraine's secutiry but also the future of European security.
The Taoiseach said he could envisage Irish peacekeepers serving in Ukraine in line with the principles of the UN charter.
During talks in Alaska which yielded no clear breakthrough, Mr Trump ruled out an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine - a move that would appear to favour Mr Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal.
Ukraine and its European allies have criticised it as a way to buy time and press Russia's battlefield advances.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks between Mr Trump and Mr Putin produced enough movement to justify a meeting with Ukrainian and European leaders.
Mr Rubio also said both Russia and Ukraine would have to make concessions to end the war, adding that the United States might not be able to produce a scenario guaranteeing peace.
"I'm not saying we're on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement, enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Zelensky and the Europeans," Mr Rubio told the Face the Nation show on CBS.
His comments were among the first by senior US officials present at the talks with Mr Putin.
Speaking separately to Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures programme, Mr Rubio said the talks had narrowed down the key issues.
These included drawing borders, long-term security guarantees for Kyiv and which military alliances Ukraine could have, he said, adding "there's a lot of work that remains".
Mr Trump spoke with Mr Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back from Alaska to Washington yesterday, saying afterwards that "it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war".
Ceasefire agreements "often times do not hold up," Mr Trump added on his Truth Social platform.
But President Zelensky appeared unconvinced by the change of tack, saying that it "complicates the situation".
If Russia lacks "the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater, peaceful coexistence with its neighbours for decades," he said on social media.
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President Trump expressed support during his call with Mr Zelensky and European leaders for a proposal by Mr Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.
President Putin "de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas," an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.
In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.
Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its troops still do not fully control any of them.
"The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas," the source said.
There was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Mr Putin of seeking to "drag out negotiations" with no commitment to end the bloodshed.
"The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon," Ms Kallas said.
The main diplomatic focus now switches to Mr Zelensky's talks at the White House tomorrow.
The Ukrainian president's last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating President Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid.
Mr Zelensky said yesterday after a "substantive" conversation with Mr Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing "all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war".
In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Mr Putin, Mr Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Mr Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Mr Putin.
"It's really up to President Zelensky to get it done," President Trump said.
Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night.
Back in Russia, Mr Putin said his summit talks with President Trump had been "timely" and "very useful".
In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Mr Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any "behind-the-scenes intrigues" that could disrupt what he called "this emerging progress".
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump posted an image of a letter from First Lady Melania Trump addressed to Mr Putin, calling for him to restore the "melodic laughter" of children.
In the letter, Ms Trump said that "each generation's descendants begin their lives with a purity - an innocence which stands above geography, government and ideology".
She said some children are "forced to carry a quiet laughter" which she described as "a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future".
"In protecting the innocence of these children," she told Mr Putin that he "will do more than serve Russia alone - you serve humanity itself".
"You, Mr Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today," she said, adding "it is time".
Accreditation: AFP/Reuters
