Senior EU officials said Zelenskyy would attend the meeting while speaking in an off-the-record briefing on Tuesday morning.

December 19’s summit will be the first since the Council’s new president, António Costa, was appointed and comes as Europe awaits the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House next year, an event expected to result in a sea-change in U.S. policy towards Ukraine.

Olha Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian justice minister and deputy prime minister, said the invitation was a very important signal for Kyiv and that Zelenskyy would attend “primarily to outline the priorities of European integration, cooperation with the EU and the role of the European Union in a peaceful Europe...”

Costa said in his invitation to attendees that Ukraine would be prominent in the talks.

“The situation in Ukraine will be at the forefront of our discussions,” he wrote. “I have just returned from a visit to Kyiv, on the first day of my mandate. We need to stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary and do whatever it takes for Russia’s invasion to be defeated and international law to prevail.

“The December European Council meeting is an important occasion to send a united and unequivocal message of support to Ukraine for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” Costa continued, adding that he had invited Zelenskyy to brief EU leaders on the latest situation and “how Europe can best support Ukraine.”