BERLIN — The leaders of Germany and France sounded broadly hopeful Donald Trump will prioritize a Ukraine ceasefire and won’t negotiate away land to Russia when he speaks to Vladimir Putin on Friday.
Speaking after a virtual meeting Wednesday, European officials said the American president took on board their views on requirements for a peace deal. For that alone, there is some sense of relief in Berlin, Paris, London and beyond that, after weeks of diplomacy, European governments are finally getting through to the U.S. administration.
Trump intends to make a ceasefire “one of his priorities” in talks with his Russian counterpart, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, while French President Emmanuel Macron said “territorial questions that fall under Ukraine’s authority cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the president of Ukraine” — clarifying that Trump “expressed” the same.
The phone calls, held with various combinations of European and EU leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump, came in the runup to a summit between the American president and Putin in Alaska on Friday.
“So far, all the talks that have been held with Putin over the past three and a half years have been accompanied by an even tougher military response each time,” Merz said. “This time it has to be different.”
One person familiar with the virtual meeting sounded a note of caution. While “overall there was a positive atmosphere,” they told POLITICO, “Trump, as always, talked a lot about what he would do, but in a way that no one could say what exactly he was going to do.”
Security guarantees
Zelenskyy traveled to Berlin on Wednesday to join for the three rounds of virtual talks arranged by Merz and aimed at persuading Trump to defend the interests of Ukraine and Europe.
Merz said European leaders presented Trump with five core stances.
First, Ukraine must have a seat at the table in future negotiations. Second, peace negotiations can only take place after a ceasefire is reached. Third, Ukraine will only be prepared to negotiate on territorial issues if the so-called “contact line” is the starting point, while ruling out legal recognition of Russia’s claim on Ukrainian territory. Fourth, any deal must include robust security guarantees for Ukraine.
And finally, negotiations must be part of a transatlantic strategy that includes increasing pressure on Putin if no progress is made in Alaska.
European leaders had become increasingly nervous about the Alaska meeting after Trump said Monday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would require “land swapping” in which Russia would reportedly keep regions it has captured and also some territory it has not yet fully occupied.
Speaking from his holiday residence in the south of France, Macron said Trump agreed with European leaders that Ukraine must be part of any discussions about territorial concessions to end the war with Russia.
‘Putin is bluffing’
Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of “land swapping” and is calling for strong U.S. sanctions against Russia.
“I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” Zelenskyy said. “He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska on all directions of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to portray that it is capable of occupying all of Ukraine.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Trump may threaten Putin with additional sanctions if the Russian leader makes no significant concessions during talks, saying “all options are on the table.”
“We expected that he would come to the table in a more fulsome way,” Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It looks like he may be ready to negotiate, and we put secondary tariffs on the Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up.”
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering,” a spokesperson said. “International borders must not be changed by force and Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.”
This article has been updated.
Veronika Melkozerova reported from Kyiv. Victor Goury-Laffont reported from Paris. Chris Lunday contributed to this article from Berlin and Esther Webber contributed from London.
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