Zelenskyy, European allies to brief Trump ahead of Putin meeting – media
European and Ukrainian leaders will speak to US President Donald Trump in an online meeting on Wednesday ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin, trying to convey to him the danger of surrendering Kyiv's interests in the pursuit of a ceasefire, Reuters reports.
"A video conference between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union is expected to take place at 12:00 GMT (15:00 Kyiv time), a German government spokesman said," the report said.
NATO Secretary General will also take part in the conference, which is being hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
It is noted that, in Trump's opinion, both Kyiv and Moscow will have to give up territory to end the war. Russian troops have already occupied almost a fifth of Ukraine. The unpredictability of the summit is fueling European fears that U.S. and Russian leaders could make far-reaching decisions and even try to force Ukraine into an unfavourable deal.
“Our focus now is to make sure that doesn’t happen – working with our American partners and remaining coordinated and united on the European side. There’s still a long way to go before Friday,” said an unnamed senior Eastern European official.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration downplayed expectations for significant progress on the ceasefire, calling his meeting with Putin in Alaska “a listening exercise.”
Ukraine, for its part, hopes the meeting will serve as a European counterweight to the Alaska summit, at least in part.
European leaders have repeatedly stressed that they welcome his peace efforts, while stressing that no deal on Ukraine should be without Ukraine’s participation.
Half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters they saw the risk of a deal that was bad for Europe and Ukraine's security, saying European unity would be vital if that happened.