Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev taunted European leaders early Tuesday, accusing them of failing “to outplay” U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
“The anti-Russian warmongering Coalition of the Willing failed to outplay @POTUS on his turf,” Medvedev wrote on X, in English.
The “Coalition of the Willing” refers to a group of European leaders who formed a pact to support a peace deal in Ukraine. Those leaders at Monday’s meeting included French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were also in attendance.
The Republican president also affirmed that the U.S. would back European security guarantees aimed at preventing Moscow from reinvading Ukraine once the war ends.
President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Trump was caught on a hot mic earlier in the day telling Macron that Putin wanted to find a resolution to bring an end to the war, though a Russian official later tempered those remarks.
Russian state media, citing Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, said Putin had spoken “in favor” of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
