European and Ukrainian leaders to spell out to Trump the dangers of Putin concessions
and
Ukrainian
leaders will speak to
US
president
Donald Trump
at a virtual meeting on Wednesday in advance of his summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as they attempt to impress on him the dangers of selling out Kyiv's interests in pursuit of a ceasefire.
The video conference, to include Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union, is expected to take place at 12.00pm, a German government spokesperson said.
Trump is due to host Putin at talks in Alaska on Friday that the US president has said will serve as a 'feel-out' meeting in his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, started by Russia's full invasion in 2022.
Trump agreed last week to the first US-Russia summit since 2021, abruptly shifting course after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting Washington's peace imitative. Trump said his envoy had made 'great progress' at talks in Moscow.
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The US president says both Kyiv and Moscow will have to cede land to end the war. Russian troops have already occupied almost a fifth of Ukraine.
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Ukraine fears fresh offensive to coincide with US-Russia summit
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The unpredictability of how the summit will play out has fuelled European fears that the US and Russian leaders could take far-reaching decisions and even seek to coerce Ukraine into an unfavourable deal.
'We are focusing now to ensure that it does not happen – engaging with US partners and staying co-ordinated and united on the European side. Still a lot of time until Friday,' said one senior official from eastern Europe.
On Tuesday Trump's administration tempered expectations for major progress toward a ceasefire, calling his meeting with Putin in Alaska a 'listening exercise'.
Nato's secretary general will also attend the conference hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
European leaders, who are wary of provoking Trump's ire, have repeatedly emphasised that they welcome his peace efforts, while underlining that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine's participation.
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Why Putin has good reasons to be hopeful for Friday's summit meeting with Trump
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Senior European officials have said they see a risk of a deal being struck that is unfavourable for Europe and Ukraine's security. They said European unity would be vital if that happened.
A source familiar with internal US deliberations said it could not be ruled out that Trump would seek a deal directly with Putin without involving Ukraine or Europe.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday the summit will be a 'listening exercise' for Trump to hear what it will take to get to a deal.
After Wednesday's call, Trump and US vice-president JD Vance are expected to speak to European leaders at a separate online meeting, the German spokesperson said.
That will be followed by an online meeting of the 'coalition of the willing', a group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
A Gallup poll released last week found that 69 per cent of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also show Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions.
Ahead of the calls, Zelenskiy said it would be impossible for Kyiv to agree to a deal that would require it to withdraw its troops from the eastern Donbas region, a large swathe of which is already occupied by Russia.
Territorial issues, he added, could only be discussed once a ceasefire has been put in place and Ukraine has received security guarantees.
Moscow's troops have
recently ramped up pressure on the battlefield
, tightening their stranglehold on the cities of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities said on Wednesday that small fire ignited by debris from a destroyed drone at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region overnight was extinguished.
Russia's air defence units destroyed 46 Ukrainian drones overnight, the defence ministry said, including five over Krasnodar.
The attack also targeted Russia's southern region of Volgograd, the regional governor said, with residents forced to evacuate an apartment block. – Reuters
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