At what was billed as an “historic” presidential summit, hastily put together in Alaska on Friday afternoon, the optics were as clear and overshadowing as the vast Chugach mountains glistening over Anchorage in the summer sun.

Ahead of a meeting with President Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine noted that Russia’s 2014 seizure of Ukrainian land became “a springboard for a new attack.”

President Donald Trump on Sunday night declared that Kyiv would not be regaining Moscow-annexed Crimea, nor would it be allowed to join NATO.

President Donald Trump is ratcheting up pressure on Ukraine to agree to terms to end the war with Russia, echoing some of Moscow’s talking points two days after meeting President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian officials said the deadly strikes were a further sign that Russia had no intention of halting hostilities.

President Donald Trump is due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with a number of European leaders, in Washington D.C. later on Monday.

European leaders are to join the Ukrainian president during a visit that seeks a path to ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was inside the Oval Office, he was berated by his US hosts, denied a planned luncheon and abruptly asked to leave the West Wing.

Trump will meet the Ukrainian leader, along with several European heads of state and the NATO Secretary-General, on Monday.

European and NATO leaders announced Sunday that they will joining President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington for crucial talks with President Trump.