A posse of European leaders will join the meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will join the talk “at the request of President Zelenskyy”, adding that she “and other European leaders” will be meeting at the White House on Monday.

Also set to join in are Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Mr Stubb’s friendship with Mr Trump is said to have blossomed since the pair bonded over their love of golf during a tournament at Mar-a-Lago in March.

Follow the latest developments on the Ukraine war

Mr Stubb previously said that Mr Trump is “the only person who can broker a peace” deal, saying the US president was “the only one that Putin is afraid of”.

Bringing a gang of leaders along could be an attempt by Mr Zelenskyy to prevent a repeat of the infamous Oval Office showdown with Mr Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, in February.

They were set to discuss a potential ceasefire with Russia and a mineral deal between Ukraine and the US, but their meeting descended into chaos when Mr Vance berated Ukraine’s leader for being insufficiently grateful for US help – in front of the media.

He completed his ambush of Mr Zelenskyy by mocking him for not wearing a suit, with Mr Trump adding that the Ukrainian didn’t “have the cards right now with us”.

The disastrous meeting ended with Mr Zelenskyy prematurely leaving the White House. He later said the bust-up was “not good for both sides”.

Analysis: Zelenskyy knows he risks another ambush

At the US-Russia summit on Friday, Mr Trump (quite literally) rolled out the red carpet for Mr Putin and even let the Russian leader take a ride with him in the presidential limousine dubbed The Beast.

Mr Zelenskyy is set for a less warm welcome, with no red carpet or fly past, no round of applause, according to Sky News’ US correspondent Martha Kelner.

The atmosphere may be more businesslike with European leaders like Mr Stubb in Mr Zelenskyy’s corner, and their inclusion as mediators could help prevent a repeat of the Oval Office clash.

Mr Stubb has repeatedly voiced support for Ukraine, and Finland, along with other Nordic countries and the three Baltic states, has been among the country’s staunchest supporters.

The 2022 invasion prompted Finland, which shares a 1,340-km (833-mile) border with Russia, to join NATO two years ago, upending decades of non-alignment.

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Two days before the Alaska summit, Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump and European leaders, including Mr Stubb, were on a conference call, after which the Finnish leader wrote on X: “Excellent meeting with @Potus and European leaders, including @ZelenskyyUA. Aligned views and unity.

“We are working together for a ceasefire and a sustainable peace. We are there for Ukraine every step of the way. The next few days and weeks can be decisive.”

Whether any other European leaders will accompany Mr Zelenskyy will likely be confirmed late Sunday following a conference call between members of the “coalition of the willing”.

Retired French General Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations, said European leaders were “very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr Zelenskyy to the hilt”.

“It’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he added.

More than 30 people have been arrested in Israel for “disruption of order” as families of hostages held in Gaza step up their campaign with a nationwide strike.

Protestors are demanding the Israel government make a deal to secure the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza.

The campaign escalated on Sunday, with demonstrators staging a “day of stoppage” that blocked traffic and closed businesses.

Protesters gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannons as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires that cloaked roads in smoke.

Police said they had arrested 32 people as part of the nationwide demonstration – one of the fiercest since the uproar over six hostages found dead in Gaza last September.

The action comes weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel signalled plans for a new Gaza offensive.

Protesters fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

The demonstrators chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages.”

“Military pressure doesn’t bring hostages back – it only kills them,” former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

“The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games.”

Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest, added: “Today, we stop everything to save and bring back the hostages and soldiers.

“Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life.

“Today, we stop everything to join hands – right, left, centre and everything in between.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the immediate release of the hostages but is haunted by the potential for mutiny within his coalition.

Far-right members of his cabinet insist they won’t support any deal that allows Hamas to retain power. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages, they threatened to topple Mr Netanyahu’s government.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich branded the stoppage “a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas’ hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future”.

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Israel is currently preparing for an invasion of Gaza City and other populated parts of the besieged strip, aimed at destroying Hamas.

The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza said that the supply of tents to the territory would resume.

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said it would allow the United Nations to resume importing tents and shelter equipment into Gaza ahead of plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones “for their protection”.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the health ministry said two children died on Sunday due to malnutrition-related causes – reportedly bringing the total over the last 24 hours to seven.

Also on Sunday, Israeli airstrikes targeted a power plant in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa.

The action escalates strikes on Iran-backed Houthis, who since the war began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea.

Israel’s military said the strikes targeted energy infrastructure it claimed was being used by the Houthis, and were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

There will be no red carpet or fly past, no round of applause when Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Washington DC on Monday.

But the bitter memory of his last visit to the White House will feature prominently in the Ukrainian president’s thoughts.

In February, he was mocked for not wearing a suit and told he didn’t “have the cards” by US President Donald Trump, before being walked off the premises early, like an unruly patron being thrown out of the bar.

Zelenskyy knows he is risking another ambush in the Oval Office but has to present himself as a willing participant in peace talks, out of fear of being painted as the obstacle to a resolution.

There was initially measured optimism in Kyiv after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, because it appeared that no deal had been cut between Washington and the Kremlin without Ukraine in the room, as had been feared.

But that restrained positivity quickly evaporated with the release of a statement by Trump the morning after the night before.

In the heady heights of a meeting with strongman Putin, he seemed to have abandoned the one key thing that European leaders had impressed upon him – that there had to be an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine as an absolute starting point to a permanent resolution.

Trump had apparently reached the conclusion that no ceasefire was required. “The best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine… is to go directly to a peace agreement,” is how he put it on his Truth Social media account.

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That sent shockwaves through Kyiv.

Many there and elsewhere believe Russia has no intention of stopping the war yet, and will use its military advantage on the battlefield to pressure Ukraine in drawn-out negotiations to give up more territory.

In the meantime, the slaughter of Ukrainians will continue.

It is the most dramatic of 180s from Trump, who before the meeting and after lobbying from European leaders had said he would not be happy if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire, and even promised “severe consequences”.

Yet now reports suggest Trump is giving credence to the Russian position – in a phone call to Zelenskyy he laid out Putin’s proposal that Ukraine relinquishes even more territory, in return for an end to the war.

The Ukrainian president will have, no doubt, been distressed to see the pictures of Putin being greeted like a king on an American military base in Alaska. It is in direct contrast to how he was hosted on US soil.

In Trump’s orbit everything is a personality contest, and where he has very obvious deference to Putin, he has disdain for Zelenskyy. That makes the Ukrainian’s position very difficult.