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European leaders met virtually with Zelensky and Merz ahead of Trump’s summit with Putin on Friday
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Donald Trump has threatened Vladimir Putin with “severe consequences” if the Russian leader does not agree to a ceasefire after crunch talks in Alaska this week.
The US president did not say what these would be, but has previously threatened Moscow with harsh sanctions if it did not agree to a truce in Ukraine.
It comes after Volodymyr Zelensky said Mr Trump told European leaders he supports a ceasefire and the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine and discussed America’s willingness to “take part” in this.
The Ukrainian president was speaking after a virtual meeting with Mr Trump and other European leaders, as Kyiv presses its case on the US president ahead of the landmark meeting on Friday.
“All the partners demonstrated one voice, one desire, and one principle. The same principle and the same vision. This is an important step forward,” he added.
Zelensky said Putin has demanded Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donetsk, but vowed Ukraine would “never leave” the Donbas and warned Putin’s troops could use it as a spring board for a future invasion.
Any peace deal that would see Ukraine cede territory to Russia in hopes of ending the war would be deeply unpopular with the Ukrainian people.
It would also be illegal under the country’s constitution.
US President Donald Trump, who is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska’s Anchorage on Friday, has suggested that a concession involving a swap of Ukrainian territories would be “to the betterment of both” sides.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has categorically rejected the suggestion.
Kyiv “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done”, Mr Zelensky said.
Donald Trump is meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska in what the US president has said may be little more than a “look see”, but in truth may prove an encounter that defines Europe -and global security – for decades.
From Trump’s perspective, the summit may be part of his drive for a Nobel Peace Prize by ending Putin’s war against Ukraine using the “art of the deal”. Putin, however, is likely to prevail and his agenda is the art of the steal – specifically a massive grab of his neighbour’s land.
Missing from the meeting is the country most affected – Ukraine itself. Led by Volodymyr Zelensky, it has held out against the Kremlin for 11 years.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will sit face-to-face for the first time in seven years on Friday for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
The Russian president will fly into Anchorage, Alaska, where he will meet his US counterpart at a remote military installation which plays host to some of America’s most fearsome fighter jets. It has been visited by several US presidents in the past.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska’s largest military base, combines the Air Force’s Elmendorf base with the US Army’s Fort Richardson.
Vladimir Putin has “only one card” left to play – to prolong the killing in Ukraine, according to a senior source in Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential office as Europe held top-level talks ahead of the Alaska summit this week.
Zelensky has not been invited to Friday’s meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. And there are deep concerns that the US president will emerge from the encounter taking an even harder line on Ukraine.
Europe’s leaders, including Keir Starmer, have been corralling US officials and White House insiders, and met virtually with the Oval Office to try to persuade Trump to use the leverage he has over Putin to get him to agree to a ceasefire.
In an ironic twist, US president Donald Trump is set to discuss the war in Ukraine with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at a military base in Alaska that was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the height of Cold War and still plays a role today.
The meeting is scheduled to take place Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
The base created by merging Elmendorf Air Force Base and Army Fort Richardson in 2010 has played a key strategic role in monitoring and deterring the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War.
Throughout its long history, the base hosted large numbers of aircraft and oversaw operations of a variety of early warning radar sites that were aimed at detecting Soviet military activity and any possible nuclear launches. It earned the motto “Top Cover for North America” at this time, according to the base website.
While much of the military hardware has since been deactivated, the base still hosts key aircraft squadrons, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet. Planes from the base also still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into US airspace.
US president Donald Trump said he would rate his call with Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders as a 10.
Asked if it was his decision not to invite Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Mr Trump said: “No, just the opposite.
“We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelensky was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly.”
He added: “It was always going to be, I was going to meet with President Putin, and then after that, I’m going to call the leaders and President Zelensky, I’m going to call President Zelensky, and then I’ll call, probably, in that order, the leaders.
“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing.”
Mr Trump described the war as “Biden’s war”, adding: “This war would have never happened if I were president. But it is what it is, and I’m here to fix it.”
There will be “severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire following crunch talks in Alaska, Donald Trump warned.
Mr Trump was “very clear” in a virtual meeting Wednesday with European leaders that the US wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming US-Russia summit in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, he told the group that Putin “is bluffing” ahead of the planned meeting with Mr Trump.
Mr Putin, Mr Zelensky said, “is trying to apply pressure … on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” in an attempt to show that Russia is “capable of occupying all of Ukraine.”
EU leaders have rallied behind Ukraine after praising a “very good call” with US president Donald Trump ahead of his landmark summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said the next few days and weeks could be decisive in the Ukraine peace process.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a “very good call”.
“Today Europe, the US and NATO have strengthened the common ground for Ukraine.
“We will remain in close coordination. Nobody wants peace more than us, a just and lasting peace.”
German chancellor Friedrich Merz described the meeting with Trump as “constructive” and said that “important decisions” could be made in Anchorage, but stressed that “fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected” at the summit.
Leaders of the US, Ukraine and Europe discussed possible locations for a follow-up meeting between US president Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump said on Wednesday there was a “very good chance” of Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky meeting after his crunch summit with the Russian leader in Alaska on Friday
Possible locations include cities in Europe and the Middle East, according to sources close to the matter.
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