United States President Donald Trump has said that Ukraine must be involved in talks about territory in any ceasefire deal with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
The comments were the first indication of what came out of talks between Trump, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, intended to shape Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Trump’s insistence on involving Ukraine, if confirmed, could bring a measure of relief to Kyiv and its allies, who have feared that Trump and Putin could reach a deal that sells out Europe’s and Ukraine’s security interests and proposes to carve up Ukraine’s territory.
Trump and Putin are due to meet in Alaska on Friday for talks on how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has said both sides will have to swap land to end the fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelensky flew into Berlin for German-hosted virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump. The Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine and embolden Putin to expand further west into the future.
Putin is bluffing: Zelensky
Zelensky said that he warned Trump ahead of his talks with Putin that the Russian leader was “bluffing” about his desire to end the war.
“I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”
Zelensky’s comments, made after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders, come as Russian forces step up pressure on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, aiming to force Kyiv to give up land.
Zelensky, who said he hoped the main topic of the talks in Alaska would be an immediate ceasefire, added that any discussions regarding territory should be covered during a three-leader meeting.
“Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end, this is all decided at the level of leaders,” he said. “Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this.”
Zelensky said Trump told him he would debrief him about his talks with Putin.
