In this week's Wider Europe, which is being published a little earlier this week, I'm drilling down on one thing: how the EU can stay relevant in the Ukraine peace talks.

Ukrainians, many of them hardened by three years of war, rallied around Zelenskyy but also expressed dismay about the future of U.S. backing for Kyiv’s war effort as larger and better equipped Russian forces march across swathes of the east.

President Donald Trump said Europe made loans and the United States did not, but that’s not accurate. “Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They get their money back.”

President Trump said Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, would visit Washington on Friday as part of a deal for Ukrainian mineral wealth. His position could ultimately embolden Russia.

In a war dominated by the unexpected, few imagined Ukraine’s fourth year at war would so firmly now question the security of all of Europe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting the White House on Thursday to try to convince President Donald Trump that a lasting peace in Ukraine will endure only if Kyiv and European leaders are at the table as negotiations move forward with Moscow.

Europe's participation in Ukraine peace talks will be needed eventually but Moscow first wants to build trust with Washington, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, while suggesting that a deal to end the conflict may still be far off.

Trump has horrified European allies with his attacks on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and what critics say is a soft take on Vladimir Putin.

Trump refused to call Vladimir Putin a dictator, as he has described Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and falsely claimed that the U.S. had spent three times as much as Europe on the war. He demanded that Ukraine sign over hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue from natural resources to the U.S., without mentioning Russian concessions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia was not opposed to Europe's involvement in Russia-U.S. peace talks aimed at settling the conflict in Ukraine, but noted that Brussels had long rejected any dialogue with Moscow.