The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, was among the European leaders who held a virtual meeting this Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to prepare for the upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next Monday.
Following the meeting, the Portuguese Prime Minister expressed confidence that “we will achieve a just and lasting peace.”
“I participated in the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ videoconference, which brought together several world leaders today to prepare for the meeting between the United States, the Coalition, and Ukraine,” Montenegro stated in a post on the social network X, referring to the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing.’
“Step by step, we will achieve a just and lasting peace,” added the Prime Minister.
Participei na videoconferência da “Coalition of the Willing”, que juntou hoje vários líderes mundiais e o Presidente Zelensky, com vista a preparar a reunião entre os Estados Unidos, a Coligação e a Ucrânia. Passo a passo, atingiremos uma paz justa e duradoura.
— Luís Montenegro (@LMontenegro_PT) August 17, 2025
This meeting aimed to prepare for the encounter with Donald Trump in Washington. The meeting, taking place at the White House, was called following a summit between the U.S. leader and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which concluded without a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, as sought by Donald Trump.
Also on X, the Ukrainian President stated that the meeting “was very useful” and that “there is clear support for Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.”
“Everyone agrees that borders should not be changed by force. All support that key issues must be resolved with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format—Ukraine, the USA, and the Russian leader,” he added.
During Friday’s meeting with Trump, according to the American media outlet Axios, Putin expressed willingness to halt military operations in the Zaporijia and Kherson regions in exchange for the full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass.
This Sunday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff stated that Putin agreed to provide Ukraine with security guarantees similar to NATO’s collective defense mandate.
“We managed to secure the following concession: that the United States could offer protection similar to Article 5, which is one of the true reasons why Ukraine wants to join NATO,” said Steve Witkoff on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’
In a note on social media, Zelensky considered it a “historic decision” that the United States is “ready to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine” and emphasized that the guarantees should offer “protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and should be developed with Europe’s participation.”
I am grateful to all participants of the Coalition of the Willing for today’s conversation in Brussels – on the eve of the meeting in Washington, D.C. with President Trump. It was very useful. We continue coordinating our joint positions. There is clear support for Ukraine’s… pic.twitter.com/Rp3qKkX7vn
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 17, 2025
Besides Zelensky, several European leaders will participate in Monday’s meeting, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and NATO’s transatlantic alliance leader Mark Rutte.
