European leaders expressed guarded optimism on Wednesday following a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, just two days before his high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
According to officials, Trump assured the group, which included leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Poland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO chief Mark Rutte, that his primary goal in Friday’s talks was to secure a ceasefire.
He also agreed that any territorial negotiations must involve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and be accompanied by credible security guarantees.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the exchange helped “clarify Trump’s intentions” and allowed European leaders to “state our expectations clearly.”
The Europeans have been excluded from the Alaska meeting, and Wednesday’s call was seen as a last effort to keep Ukraine’s interests central to the discussions.
Trump described the call as “a 10” and warned that Russia would face “very severe” consequences if it did not halt its military campaign. He also floated the idea of a follow-up meeting involving both Putin and Zelensky if the initial talks proved productive.
Still, concern lingers over Trump’s recent references to potential “land swaps” between Kyiv and Moscow, which many fear could result in Ukrainian territory being ceded in exchange for a temporary peace.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed that “Europe must convince Donald Trump that Russia cannot be trusted,” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they made it clear Ukraine “must be at the table” for any follow-up negotiations.
Putin’s demands, reiterated Wednesday by Moscow’s Foreign Ministry, remain unchanged: Kyiv must abandon its bid to join NATO and withdraw from four partially occupied regions, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, before a ceasefire could begin. Both Kyiv and its allies have rejected these conditions as unacceptable.
Zelensky, meeting with Merz in Munich before heading to London to see UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accused Putin of bluffing about Russia’s economic resilience and urged Western allies to “increase the pressure.”
While Trump acknowledged that convincing Putin to end attacks on civilians might prove impossible, he insisted there was now “a real chance” to stop the fighting, citing the stalemate of the past three years.
Meanwhile, Russia’s summer offensive continues to push forward in Donetsk, with Ukrainian forces facing renewed pressure near Dobropillya.
The UK and France, leading a “Coalition of the Willing” to bolster Ukraine’s long-term defense, signaled readiness to deploy a “reassurance force” after hostilities end, though details remain undefined.
The Trump-Putin summit will take place Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska.
