Ukrainian and European leaders are likely to push back hard on Russia’s demands, but risk casting themselves – in the eyes of the White House, at least – as obstacles to peace.

Zelenskyy is traveling to Washington, D.C., alongside several European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.