UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Shutterstock).

Leaders from European and NATO nations will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in what’s called “a united front” in Washington in discussions this week with President Donald Trump in negotiating an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The Associated Press is reporting that leaders of Finland,Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain announced their decision Sunday after Ukraine was excluded from talks between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They are also anxious to avoid repetition of an incident earlier this year in which Trump “berated” Zelenskyy at an Oval Office meeting.

Dodgers back on top, sweep Padres

The Los Angeles Dodgers (71-53) roared back into first place in the National League West with a 5-4 win over the ßSan Diego Padres (69-55).

Their sweep of the three-game series in Chavez Ravine put them two games up in the division, wiping out the damage inflicted by losing hree-straight to the Los Angeles Angeles in Anaheim earlier this week.

It wasn’t easy. After breaking out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning homers by Freddie Freeman (15th home run) and Andy Pages (20th), The Blue Crew watched as the Padres chipped away with single runs in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth innings to tie it up 4-4. The winning run came in the bottom of the eighth as Mookie Betts went deep with his 13th home run.

Angel avoid a sweep by the A’s

With a six-inning offensive outburst in the top of the 10th inning, the Los Angeles Angels (50-64) avoided being swept in the three-game series with an 11-5 victory over the Athletics (56-70) in West Sacramento

The score was tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning when the Halos scored on a single by Jo Adell and a fielder’s choice to grab a 7-5 lead. The last three runs came on a triple by Luis Rengifo and Zach Neto’s 21st home run.

Weather: Hotter than before

The warming trend that’s heating up our West Orange County cities is climbing and soon will approach the 90s. The forecast calls for a daytime high of 82 on Monday with an overnight low of 65 under partly cloudy skies. The daytime high will skip to 85 (56) Tuesday and up to 87 (68) on Wednesday, all under cloudy skies. Thursday highs are expected to rise to 89 (69) with mostly sunny skies.