This time, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrives in the Oval Office on Monday, he will come with backup.
An array of European prime ministers and presidents are flying in to make sure that a viable, defensible Ukraine survives whatever carving up of its territory is about to happen at the negotiating table.
But they are also there to make certain that the trans-Atlantic alliance emerges intact. President Trump’s instant reversal on the critical issue of obtaining a cease-fire before negotiating over land or security guarantees has left many of them shaken, and wondering whether Mr. Trump had once again been swayed by President Vladimir V. Putin.
By most accounts, they are there to make sure that Mr. Trump has not pivoted too close to the Russian side, and does not try to strong-arm Mr. Zelensky into a deal that will ultimately sow the seeds of Ukraine’s dissolution. But they are also there to make sure that the United States, the linchpin of NATO and European security since its creation in 1949, is not switching sides.
At a news conference on Sunday in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, stressed the importance of security guarantees for Ukraine and respect for its territory. She said it was paramount to “stop the killing” and urged further talks among the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States “as soon as possible.”
One senior European diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of angering Mr. Trump, described a sense of panic among European allies. The diplomat had not seen a meeting like the one set for Monday come together so quickly since just before the Iraq War.
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