Zelensky heads to Washington as Trump presses for deal with Russia

KYIV, Aug 18 (Reuters): Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders will meet Donald Trump in Washington on Monday to map out a peace deal amid fears the US president could try to pressure Kyiv into accepting a settlement favourable to Moscow.

The European leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland and NATO hope to shore up Zelensky at a crucial diplomatic moment in the war and prevent any repetition of the bad-tempered Oval Office encounter between Trump and Ukraine's leader in February.

Trump will meet first with Zelensky at 1:15pm Eastern Daylight Time (1715 GMT) in the Oval Office and then with all the European leaders together in the White House's East Room at 3pm EDT (1900 GMT), the White House said.

After rolling out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Trump said an agreement should be struck to end the 42-month-long war which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

"Russia is a very big power, and they're not," Trump said of Ukraine afterwards.

However, Zelensky has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals at that meeting, including for Ukraine to give up the rest of its eastern Donetsk region, of which it currently controls a quarter.

"We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now," the Ukrainian leader said in Brussels on Sunday, adding that his country's constitution made it impossible for him to give away territory.

More concerning for him is the fact that Trump, who previously favoured Kyiv's proposal for an immediate ceasefire to conduct deeper peace talks, reversed course after the summit and indicated support for Russia's favoured approach of negotiating a comprehensive deal while fighting rumbles on.