The European political heavy-hitters were left out of President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday.

Why it matters: Putin has shown no interest in sitting down with Zelensky through 3.5 years of war. President Trump claims that's now changed, and that a presidential meeting is the key to unlocking peace.

President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Monday that the United States would join Europe in providing security guarantees to Kyiv as part of a broader peace deal with Russia,

Russia has yet again ignored Donald Trump’s bid to hold a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and said attempts to resolve security issues for Kyiv without Moscow’s participation was a “road to nowhere”.

In a day of diplomatic maneuvers, Europeans argued that Kyiv should not yield key cities, and Trump designated Rubio to draft security guarantees.