Zelenskiy warns Trump that Putin likely 'bluffing'
The comments were the first indication of what came out of talks between Trump, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, intended to shape Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Trump's insistence on involving Ukraine, if confirmed, could bring a measure of relief to Ukraine and its allies, who have feared that Trump and Putin could reach a deal that sells out their security interests and proposes to carve up Ukraine's territory.
Trump and Putin are due to meet in Alaska on Friday for talks on how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict.
Trump has said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskiy flew into Berlin for German-hosted virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump.
Some European governments worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine and embolden Putin to expand further west in the future.
Participants in the call with Trump included leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Finland as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he hoped the Trump-Putin talks will centre on a ceasefire and he warned Trump that Putin was "bluffing" about his desire to end the war.
"I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing," he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine."
Zelenskiy added that he wanted a three-leader meeting, saying no talks about Ukraine should exclude his country's representatives.
Von der Leyen said that Europe, the United States and the NATO military alliance had strengthened their common ground for Ukraine.
"We have had a very good call," the European Commission president wrote on X after attending a virtual meeting with Trump, European leaders and Zelenskiy.
"Today Europe, the US and NATO have strengthened the common ground for Ukraine," von der Leyen said, adding that "we will remain in close coordination. Nobody wants peace more than us, a just and lasting peace".
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