Whether there will be substance to the Monday meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump remains to be seen, but it appears there will be some semblance of style.
Axios is reporting that the White House has asked that Zelensky, who has adopted military-style fatigues as his standard dress since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, wear a suit on Monday.
Trump is, as Vice President J.D. Vance once commented, “a very big fan of conservative dress.”
Axios noted that Trump disliked Zelensky’s attire when the Ukrainian leader visited the White House in a disastrous meeting in March.
Zelensky will go along with the request to an extent, Axios quoted one source as saying.
“It is going to be ‘suit-style’ but not a full suit,” a source said.
Zelensky ditched the fatigues at a recent NATO summit, which Trump liked.
“Zelensky came like a normal human being, not crazy, and was dressed like a somebody that should be at NATO… So they had a good conversation,” a U.S. official said at the time.
A different source said expectations Zelensky will conform are minimal, but that hopes are high the summit will not dissolve in anger in the same way as the March meeting.
Should Zelensky wear a suit when he visits the White House?
“They’ve traveled very, very far, both of them. Zelensky will not show him pictures of dead children and then act like it’s somehow his fault. The president has learned to just sort of like, you know, file away any irritations and go forward,” a source said.
The meeting may have private time, but it includes multiple European leaders.
Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Finland are attending Monday’s meeting, according to the Associated Press.
“The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,” retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, who led the French military mission at the United Nations, said.
As for substance, multiple concepts were flying about in advance of the meeting.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed to accept the U.S. and NATO giving Ukraine security guarantees for the future, according to CBS.
“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” he said, adding that the pivot in Russia’s position was “game-changing.”
Trump has said that NATO admission by Ukraine is off the table, according to the BBC, as is regaining Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014.
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