Ukraine updates: Merz invites Trump, Zelenskyy to meeting – DW – 08/11/2025
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has invited Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a virtual meeting on Wednesday,
It comes ahead of a summit in Alaska later this week where Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European Union foreign ministers are also meeting via video link to discuss the upcoming Alaska summit,
The EU has already expressed concern over the lack of Ukrainian presence in Alaska.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday invited US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and several European leaders to a virtual meeting, to take place on Wednesday ahead of the Trump-Putin summit later this week.
The German chancellery said in a statement that the talks would concentrate on "the current situation in Ukraine with a view to the planned meeting between US President Trump and Russian President Putin."
The chancellery also said the talks would focus on "further options for action to put pressure on Russia" as well as "preparations for possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security."
The foreign ministers' virtual huddle on Monday is more of a debrief after smaller talks with the US near London than deliberations on concrete EU action. There's little new in Europe's position — but in a way, that's the point.
The EU's big players have spent the last few months trying to demonstrate their commitment to Ukraine by maintaining military, financial and political backing in the face of shifting US policies and a drawdown in support from across the Atlantic.
Aware there will likely be no seat for Europe at Friday's Trump-Putin talks, the EU now seems keen to remind both sides that it, too, is key to any potential peace accord.
Frozen Russian central bank assets, extensive EU sanctions on Moscow, ongoing support to Kyiv and a possible role as future security guarantors — these are some of Europe's areas of leverage.
The bloc also wants to send a message to Moscow that trying to cut a deal directly with Washington won't cut Europe out of the picture. EU capitals will be watching Friday's talks "extremely attentively" — one diplomat told DW — conscious of how quickly things could move.
US Vice President JD Vance said an eventual negotiated settlement would probably leave both Russia and Ukraine unhappy in one way or another. With the gap in positions so wide, it's likely Europe would find itself in the same boat.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a "long conversation" with Narendra Modi on Monday, where the Ukrainian president "informed" the Indian prime minister "about the Russian attacks on our cities and villages."
"And this is at a time when there is finally a diplomatic possibility to end the war," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"Instead of demonstrating readiness for a ceasefire, Russia is showing only its desire to continue the occupation and killings. It is important that India is supporting our peace efforts and shares the position that everything concerning Ukraine must be decided with Ukraine's participation."
Zelenskyy's remarks come amid concerns over the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy and Modi also "discussed in detail the sanctions against Russia."
India has been heavily criticized in the West for increasing imports of Russian fossil fuels in the face of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. India's oil purchases from Russia grew nearly 19-fold from 2021 to 2024, from 0.1 to 1.9 million barrels a day.
And Zelenskyy "noted that it is necessary to limit the export of Russian energy, particularly oil, to reduce its potential and ability to finance the continuation of this war. It is important that every leader who has tangible leverage over Russia sends the corresponding signals to Moscow."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday warned against capitulating to the demands of Vladimir Putin ahead of talks between the Russian president and Donald Trump.
The US-Russia summit is set to take place in Alaska on Friday and will be the first between a sitting US and Russian president since 2021.
Kyiv is concerned that Trump and Putin could strike a deal requiring Ukraine to cede territory.
"Russia is dragging out the war, and therefore it deserves stronger global pressure," Zelenskyy wrote in a statement. "Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits. And this is not just a moral position, it is a rational one."
"Concessions do not persuade a killer," he added.
Russia has become increasingly reliant on drones in its attacks on Ukrainian cities. Mass production of the Iranian-designed weapons began a year ago in Tatarstan, in central Russia. Independent Russian reporters say that children are involved in drone production and development.
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EU foreign ministers on Monday are to discuss a Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meeting in Alaska later this week.
The ministers are set to meet via video link, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also planning to join.
Trump and Putin will meet on Friday, but the EU has insisted that Kyiv and European powers should be part of any arrangement to end the war that began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Over the weekend, European leaders pushed for Ukraine's involvement in the talks, amid fears that a meeting without Kyiv could see if forced to cede swaths of territory.
"The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine," leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and Finland and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement, urging Trump to put more pressure on Russia.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday he hoped and assumed that Zelenskyy would attend the Alaska summit.
Leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries — Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden — also said no decisions should be taken without Ukrainian involvement.
Talks on ending the war could only take place during a ceasefire, they added in a joint statement.
"The US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously. Any deal between the US and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security," the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said Washington is working on arranging a meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy.
"We're at a point now where we're trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict," Vance said during an interview on Fox News.
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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that seven Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russia's air defense systems overnight on Sunday and into Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry and a regional official said three people were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes targeting the regions of Tula, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.
Welcome to DW's coverage of the latest developments in the Russian war on Ukraine.
European Union foreign ministers are set to hold talks via video link ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The Europeans want to push for Ukraine's involvement in any peace talks with Russia.
Monday's meeting comes amid an apparent stance change by Trump toward Ukraine and Russia, with him threatening harsher sanctions against Russia if it doesn't agree to a ceasefire.
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