US President Trump is set to have a virtual meeting with Ukranian President Zelenskiy. Image: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images via NPR.
(The Post News)- Europe leaders and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The phone call meeting comes just a few days ahead of Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy seeks to discuss the dangers of compromising Kyiv’s interests for the sake of a ceasefire.
On Friday, Trump will meet President Putin to negotiate for a ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war. A week agao, Trump agreed to hold the first U.S.-Russia meeting since 2021. This came as a suprise as Trump has voiced out frustration with Putin for resisting Trump’s peace initiative. Trump said his envoy Steve Witkoff had achieved “great progress” during talks in Moscow.
President Trump notes that both Kyiv and Moscow will have to surrender some territory to end the war. Russian troops are already controlling almost 20% of Ukraine. The uncertainty over how the summit will unfold has heightened European concerns that Washington and Moscow might make far-reaching decisions or pressure Ukraine into accepting an unfavorable agreement.
A senior official from Eastern Europe said, “Our focus now is to prevent that from happening by engaging with U.S. partners and maintaining unity and coordination on the European side. There’s still plenty of time before Friday.” On Tuesday, Trump’s administration downplayed expectations for major ceasefire breakthroughs. The administartion described Trump’s upcoming Alaska meeting with Putin as a “listening exercise.”
A German government spokesperson said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host a video conference at 1300 GMT (1500 CET) between Trump, the Ukrainian president, and the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland, and the European Union, with NATO’s secretary general also joining.
Kyiv hopes the conference will serve, at least in part, as a European counterbalance to the Alaska summit. European officials reported that they fear the possibility of a deal that could undermine both Europe’s and Ukraine’s security. A source close to the U.S. internal discussions said it’s not impossible that Trump might strike a direct deal with Putin without including Ukraine or Europe.
After meeting with Trump, the “coalition of the willing,” a group of nations preparing measures to back Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached, will also meet online.
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