Zelenskyy in Berlin for talks with Merz before Trump-Putin summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin for talks with European and US leaders ahead of the Trump-Putin summit. Kyiv and EU allies fear being sidelined from peace efforts that could hand Russia major concessions.
Berlin: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Berlin on Wednesday to join German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for talks with European and US leaders ahead of the Trump-Putin summit later this week, the German government said.
Merz has convened a series of virtual meetings on Wednesday in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukraine’s leaders heard ahead of a summit that they have been sidelined from.
Zelenskyy is due to meet with European leaders first, in preparation for a virtual call with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance about an hour later.
A call between leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — will take place last.
On Wednesday, Merz pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets as the Kyiv government fights to repel Russia’s invasion. Zelenskyy last visited Berlin in late May.
The stakes for Europe
Trump has said he wants to see whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year, describing Friday’s summit as “a feel-out meeting” where he can assess the Russian leader’s intentions.
Yet Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He has also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.
European allies have pushed for Ukraine’s involvement in any peace talks, fearful that discussions that exclude Kyiv could otherwise favour Moscow.
Trump on Monday ducked repeated chances to say that he would push for Zelenskyy to take part in his discussions with Putin, and was dismissive of Zelenskyy and his need to be part of an effort to seek peace.
Trump said that following Friday’s summit, a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders could be arranged, or that it could also be a meeting with “Putin and Zelenskyy and me.”
The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the European Union, might secure favourable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.
The overarching fear of many European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.
Land concessions a non-starter for Kyiv
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region that it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.
Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.
He said diplomatic discussions led by the US focusing on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations.
Three weeks after Trump returned to office, his administration took the leverage of Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table — something that Putin has demanded — and signalled that the EU and Ukraine must handle security in Europe now while America focuses its attention elsewhere.
Trump has also routinely threatened and cajoled his NATO allies over defence spending, and has shown little mercy in trade talks by hiking tariffs on most EU imports to 15 per cent, ostensibly for US national security reasons.
Senior EU officials believe that Trump may be satisfied with simply securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, and is probably more interested in broader US geostrategic interests and great power politics, aiming to ramp up business with Russia and rehabilitate Putin.
