Germany has said US president Donald Trump will consult European leaders before his summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, amid fears that they want to agree a deal on Ukraine without its involvement when they meet in Alaska on Friday.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz will host online talks on Wednesday involving Mr Trump, leaders of several European states, top EU and Nato officials and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Mr Merz’s office said on Monday that the talks would focus on “further options for action to put pressure on Russia” and “preparations for possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security”.
The leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy and Poland are expected to take part, after saying in a joint statement on Saturday that Ukraine needed “robust and credible security guarantees” and “freedom of choice over its own destiny” and that an initial ceasefire should be a precondition for “meaningful negotiations”.
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Kyiv and European capitals see a risk that Mr Trump – who formerly claimed to be able to end the war in one day – is impatient with the issue and wants a quick deal with Mr Putin that would allow him to claim a diplomatic triumph and end support for Ukraine.
“We all know that Russia will pose a threat to the countries of the region, including Poland, for years to come. We cannot allow Russia to emerge from this conflict strengthened and convinced that it can violate borders or seize foreign territories with impunity and that the world will agree to this,” said Polish prime minister Donald Tusk on Monday.
“We also believe that any decision on a potential exchange of territories and other conditions for peace must be negotiated with Ukraine,” he added.
Mr Trump has not revealed details of what a deal with Mr Putin could involve, but said on Friday that it would entail “some swapping of territories [between Ukraine and Russia] to the betterment of both”.
Mr Trump said his encounter with Mr Putin will be a “feel-out meeting” aimed at urging Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
“I’m going in to speak to Vladimir Putin and I’m going to be telling him, you’ve got to end this war. You’ve got to end it.”
Mr Trump also said a future meeting could include Mr Zelenskiy.
Media reports have suggested that Mr Putin proposed to US envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Moscow last week that Russia would agree to a ceasefire at the current front line if Ukraine handed over permanent control of its Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Mr Tusk said such a suggestion “boils down to Russia keeping what it already has, not giving back what it has captured, and Ukraine must agree to this.
“It is not surprising that for Ukraine ... this is unacceptable. Will this exchange of territories be the key to achieving lasting peace? So far, there is little indication of this. But let’s wait and see – everything will become known on Friday,” he added.
“I will wait ... for the effects of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin. I have many fears and a lot of hope.”
Since Mr Trump began his second stint in the White House in January, Russia has been extremely keen to discuss ways to end its invasion of Ukraine with his administration, while sidelining Kyiv and European states that it describes as obstacles to a peace deal.
That has stoked concerns that Mr Putin may push for a final deal on Friday and prompted European leaders to frame the summit as only a starting point for negotiations.
“It will not be the final say on this. There will not be a final deal on this. Of course, Ukraine will have to be involved,” said Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, who will also join the talks on Wednesday.
“What will happen on Friday is testing President Putin by President Trump. And I commend him for the fact that he organised this meeting,” Mr Rutte told US television.
