US president Donald Trump will meet with European leaders and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for an emergency virtual summit on Wednesday.
The call, organised by German chancellor Friedrich Merz, comes ahead of Trump’s summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday as he endeavours to end the war in Ukraine.
European leaders have expressed their concerns after Trump expressed there would be ‘land swapping’ in a ceasefire deal between the warring nations, which meant Ukraine would have to cede territory to Russia three years after Putin launched a full-scale invasion.
He also said that Russia would have to accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin would be expected to surrender.
Trump said on Monday he was “going to get everybody’s ideas” before meeting with Putin.
The virtual summit is expected to focus on pressure options against Russia, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, security guarantees for Kyiv and the sequencing of potential peace talks, according to POLITICO.
European leaders have expressed their concern about being sidelined from the meeting between DC and Moscow, as Zelensky is unlikely to appear at the Alaska meeting. Their overarching concern is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.
Twenty six European Union leaders issued a statement appealing to Trump on Tuesday, asking that he defend their security interests at Friday’s summit.
They said they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they underlined, “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine” and “international borders must not be changed by force.”
Chancellor Merz reportedly called Trump on Sunday, after telling Germany’s public broadcaster ARD that Europe’s leaders were “preparing intensively at the European level together with the US government for this meeting.”
“We cannot accept that territorial issues are decided between Russia and America over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians,” Merz said.
As well as Merz, Zelensky and Trump, British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to attend the virtual summit, as will other members of the Coalition of the Willing, a name given to the group of European leaders supporting Ukraine to end Russia’s invasion.
European leaders will meet with Nato and EU officials, as well as Zelensky, at 12pm GMT (1pm BST). An hour later, European leaders will meet separately with Trump and US vice president JD Vance.
The coalition of the willing, hosted by Germany France and the UK, will then meet at 2.30pm (3.30pm BST), before Chancellor Merz enters a press conference at a time that has not been revealed yet.
