{"id":89672,"date":"2025-08-13T20:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89672"},"modified":"2025-08-13T20:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:55:15","slug":"european-leaders-tentatively-hopeful-after-call-with-trump-ahead-of-putin-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89672","title":{"rendered":"European leaders tentatively hopeful after call with Trump ahead of Putin summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European leaders appeared cautiously optimistic after holding a virtual meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday, two days before he meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Trump reportedly told the Europeans that his goal for the summit was to obtain a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.<\/p>\n

He also agreed that any territorial issues had to be decided with Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s involvement, and that security guarantees had to be part of the deal, according to France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Trump had allowed him to \u201cclarify his intentions\u201d and gave the Europeans a chance to \u201cexpress our expectations,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n

Trump and Vice-President JD Vance spoke to the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland and Poland as well as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Nato chief Mark Rutte.<\/p>\n

The Europeans have been sidelined from the hastily organised summit in Alaska and their phone call today was a last-ditch attempt to keep Ukraine\u2019s interests and the continent\u2019s security at the forefront of Trump\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

To an extent, it seemed to work. On Wednesday evening Trump rated the meeting \u201ca ten\u201d and said Russia would face \u201cvery severe\u201d consequences unless it halted its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

He also said that if Friday\u2019s meeting went well he would try and organise a \u201cquick second one\u201d involving both Putin and Zelensky.<\/p>\n

Still, in their statements European leaders restated the need for Kyiv to be involved in any final decision \u2013 betraying an underlying nervousness that Putin could ultimately persuade Trump to concede Ukrainian land in exchange for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s most important thing that Europe convinces Donald Trump that one can\u2019t trust Russia,\u201d said Poland\u2019s Donald Tusk, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed the leaders had \u201cmade it clear that Ukraine must be at the table as soon as follow-up meetings take place\u201d.<\/p>\n

If the Russian side refused to make any concessions, \u201cthen the United States and we Europeans should and must increase the pressure,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n

Since the US-Russia summit was announced last week, Trump has made several references to \u201cland-swapping\u201d between Kyiv and Moscow \u2013 sparking serious concerns in Ukraine and beyond that he could be preparing to give in to Putin\u2019s longstanding demand to seize large swathes of Ukrainian territory.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning Russia\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexey Fadeev reiterated that Russia\u2019s stance had not changed since Putin set it out in June 2024.<\/p>\n

At the time Putin said a ceasefire would start the minute the Ukrainian government withdrew from four regions partially occupied by Russia \u2013 Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He also said Ukraine would need to officially give up in its efforts to join the Nato military alliance.<\/p>\n

These are maximalist demands which neither Kyiv nor its European partners see as viable.<\/p>\n

Zelensky has said he is convinced that Russia would use any region it was allowed to keep as a springboard for future invasions.<\/p>\n

A way to counter this threat could be security guarantees \u2013 intended as commitments to ensure Ukraine\u2019s long-term defence.<\/p>\n

In statements issued after the phone call with Trump, several European leaders said such guarantees had been mentioned and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that \u201creal progress\u201d had been made in that respect.<\/p>\n

He also praised Trump\u2019s efforts to reach an agreement, saying: \u201cFor three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven\u2019t got anywhere near the prospect of an actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we do have that chance, because of the work the president has put in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the spring the UK and France have been spearheading efforts to create a so-called \u201cCoalition of the Willing\u201d \u2013 a group of nations who have pledged to deter Russia from further invading Ukraine.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday the group said it stood \u201cready to play an active role\u201d including by deploying \u201ca reassurance force once hostilities have ceased\u201d \u2013 although the shape, composition and role of such a force is yet unclear.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the front lines, Russia\u2019s summer offensive continues to press on. Referencing the sudden advance of Moscow\u2019s troops near Dobropillya, in the embattled Donetsk region, Zelensky said Putin was pretending that sanctions were not effective at damaging the Russian economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Trump and our European allies that Putin is bluffing,\u201d the Ukrainian president said, urging them to apply \u201cmore pressure\u201d on Russia.<\/p>\n

For his part, Trump appeared to admit that even when he meets Putin face-to-face he may not be able to get him to stop killing civilians in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had that conversation with him\u2026\u2009but then I go home and see that a rocket has hit a nursing home or an apartment building and people are lying dead in the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I guess the answer to that is probably no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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