All eyes were on the White House yesterday as Donald Trump hosted several European leaders as part of the continued effort to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.

The divisive US president met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday of last week, with the pair reportedly holding a private meeting for three hours. Ultimately no terms for a ceasefire were agreed upon, but Trump has insisted in the wake of the meeting that he and Putin had made “great progress”

Yesterday it was the turn of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to share a room with Trump. Zelenskyy, a redoubtable figure in the midst of the Russian invasion, was joined at the White House by several peers from around Europe, including Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and Emmanuel Macron of France.

The coalition of EU leaders had a round table discussion with Trump, talking over a number of matters relating to the war. It is feared in some circles that Trump is ready to concede too much to Putin in order to effect the deal he claimed he had the power to fix within 24 hours (he said this prior to winning the election).