Zelenskyy, European leaders to meet with Trump on Ukraine at White House

On Sunday, a slew of European leaders announced they would be accompanying Zelenskyy on his trip to Washington, including:

• EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen
• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
• French President Emannuel Macron
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb

Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday morning that "We have never had so many European Leaders here at one time. A great honor for America!!! Lets see what the results will be???"

Mr. Trump will meet with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office before holding a larger meeting with participating European leaders, with both events partly open to cameras. 

Reporters are expected to be ushered into the beginning of Mr. Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy at 1:15 p.m., as well as part of the meeting with European leaders at 3 p.m. Those times are subject to change, as meetings may run long. There is no press conference scheduled with Mr. Trump and any European leaders. 

Other U.S. officials will be in the Oval Office for the meeting with Zelenskyy, including Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. 

Here's the full schedule, released by the White House:

• Noon: European leaders arrive
• 1 p.m.: Mr. Trump greets Zelenskyy 
• 1:15 p.m.: Bilateral meeting between Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office
• 2:15 p.m.: Mr. Trump greets European leaders in the State Dining Room 
• 2:30 p.m.: Mr. Trump and European leaders take a "family photo"
• 3 p.m.: Mr. Trump holds a multilateral meeting with European leaders in the East Room

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. CBS News

Rubio said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that although there wasn't a "lot of progress" in the Alaska summit on Friday, it resulted in "enough movement" to justify Monday's talks.

"If not, we wouldn't be having Zelenskyy flying all the way over here," Rubio said. "We wouldn't be having all the Europeans coming all the way over here. Now understand, and take with a grain of salt, 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 Zelenskyy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this."

On the possibility of further sanctions on Russia, such as the secondary sanctions Mr. Trump has threatened to impose, Rubio said punishing Russia now would prompt Moscow to disengage.

"The moment the president puts those additional sanctions, that's the end of the talks. You've basically locked in at least another year to year and a half of war and death and destruction," Rubio said. "We may unfortunately wind up there, but we don't want to wind up there. We want to wind up with a peace deal that ends this war so Ukraine can go on with the rest of their lives and rebuild their country and be assured that this is never going to happen again."

Rubio said "both sides" are going to have to make concessions. "That's how these deals are made, whether we like it or not," he told Brennan. 

Read more here.

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.