WASHINGTON – All eyes will be on the high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday.
The backstory:
Last February, Zelensky was told to leave the White House after his meeting with Trump turned into a shouting match in the Oval Office.
However, experts say that the two leaders have since grown closer, and that this meeting will likely have a different feeling than last time.
What they’re saying:
Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, joined FOX 5’s Tim Fitzergald during Sunday’s “On the Hill” to discuss what we could possibly expect from the highly anticipated meeting.
“I expect them to stay on the rails,” Taylor said. “I think it will be calm. I think it will be determined. I think it will be pointed, but I think it will be constructive.”
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 28: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office at the White House on February 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Zelensky are meeting today to negotiate a preliminary ag
Senior European leaders will also come to the White House on Monday to support Zelensky, and Taylor claims that the United States and its European allies were united “as of two days ago.”
“Up until Friday, the Europeans, Americans, the Ukrainians were on the same sheet,” Taylor said. “Friday, that changed when President Trump was convinced by President Putin not to go for a ceasefire and to go for a broad agreement.”
Dig deeper:
When asked if the optics of Trump’s meeting with Putin on Friday could change the president’s relationship with Zelensky moving forward, Taylor said “the Ukrainians may not have welcomed that meeting.”
The U.S. ambassador went on to say that “the welcoming that President Trump gave to President Putin was shocking, was jarring, was uncomfortable.”
“The Ukrainians were aghast at that show of friendliness. I mean, this, Ukrainians have been, have been being, have been killed. With civilians, children, abducted by Putin for three and a half years. So they are they were shocked to see that.”
What’s next:
When it comes to the outcome of Monday’s meeting, Taylor says it should end with a joint statement.
“Maybe a press conference where all the Europeans and Ukrainians… come out with President Trump, and they say, we have talked, and we agree, and we’re going for an end to the killing.”
The Source: Information from this article was sourced from an interview with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, on FOX 5’s “On the Hill.”
