Matt Whitaker, the United States ambassador to NATO, said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could end up joining the high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Whitaker said Mr. Trump will have the final say on who is invited to the meeting on Friday in Alaska and that there is ample time between now and then to make that decision.

“Yeah, I certainly think it is possible,” Mr. Whitaker said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked whether Mr. Zelenskyy could make an appearance. “Certainly, there can’t be a deal that everybody that is involved in doesn’t agree to.

“The decision is going to be made by President Trump,” he said. “He agreed to meet with President Putin in Alaska on Friday, and if he thinks that is the best scenario to invite Zelenskyy, he will do that.”

The historic scheduled meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin is fueling hopes that a peace deal to end the war could be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian leaders have feared being left out of peace talks and there are clear sticking points in negotiations.

Indeed, Mr. Zelenskyy quickly rebuffed Mr. Trump’s recent suggestion that Ukraine and Russia could swap some territory as part of a peace deal.

“The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the constitution of Ukraine,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a video address Saturday morning. “No one will retreat from this, and no one can. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”

He also said that any peace solution carved out “without Ukraine” amounts to “solutions against peace.”

“These are dead solutions,” he said.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.