European leaders to meet virtually on Ukraine before call with Trump
The conference calls come ahead of a scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska on Friday. Trump has said the parties to the war were close to a deal that could resolve the 3-1/2-year-old conflict.
Trump has said the deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both", suggesting it would require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression.
The German government spokesperson said Zelenskiy and EU and NATO officials were set to join a virtual meeting hosted by Berlin at 1400 CET (1200 GMT) on Wednesday with the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy and Poland, the spokesperson said.
They will discuss options to increase pressure on Russia, the sequence of steps in a possible peace process, and the future of the territories occupied by Russia as well as security guarantees for Ukraine, the spokesperson said.
European leaders will then at 1500 CET hold a videoconference with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Finally, the so-called "coalition of the willing"- the group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire - would meet at 1630 for a meeting hosted by Germany, France and Britain, the spokesperson said.
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