BBC News : European leaders appeared cautiously optimistic after holding a virtual meeting with Donald Trump yesterday, in which the US president reportedly told them that his goal for tomorrow’s summit with Russia was to obtain a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.
He also agreed that any territorial issues had to be decided with Volodymyr Zelensky’s involvement, and that security guarantees had to be part of the deal, according to France’s Emmanuel Macron.
The Europeans have been sidelined from the hastily organised summit in Alaska and their phone call was a last-ditch attempt to keep Ukraine’s interests and the continent’s security at the forefront of Trump’s mind.
To an extent, it seemed to work. Yesterday evening Trump rated the meeting “a 10” and said Russia would face “very severe” consequences unless it halted its war in Ukraine.
Still, in their statements European leaders restated the need for Kyiv to be involved in any final decision – betraying an underlying nervousness that Putin could ultimately persuade Trump to concede Ukrainian land in exchange for a ceasefire.
“It’s most important thing that Europe convinces Donald Trump that one can’t trust Russia,” said Poland’s Donald Tusk, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed the leaders had “made it clear that Ukraine must be at the table as soon as follow-up meetings take place”.
If the Russian side refused to make any concessions, “then the United States and we Europeans should and must increase the pressure”, Merz said.
