Zelensky heads to Berlin for online meeting with Trump, European leaders

BERLIN – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Berlin on Aug 13 for a German-hosted virtual meeting with US President Donald Trump and European leaders, two days before Mr Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Europe’s leaders are trying to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv’s interests at the first US-Russia summit since 2021.

Mr Trump has said the Alaska talks will be a “feel-out” meeting, as he pursues a ceasefire in Moscow’s war on Ukraine, having said last week, to consternation in Kyiv and Europe, that any deal would involve “some swopping of territories”.

Mr Zelensky will meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz before a video conference with the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union at 2pm, the hosts said. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte will also attend.

Mr Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance will join the call at 3pm.

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 coordinated and united on the European side. Still a lot of time until Friday,” said one senior official from Eastern Europe.

European leaders, who are wary of provoking Mr 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.

Mr Trump’s administration tempered expectations on Aug 12 for major progress towards a ceasefire, calling his meeting with Mr Putin in Alaska

a “listening exercise”.

Mr Trump agreed last week to the

first US-Russia summit

since 2021, abruptly shifting course after weeks of voicing frustration with Mr Putin for resisting the US peace initiative, adding that his envoy had made “great progress” at talks in Moscow.

Half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters that 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.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Aug 12 that the summit will be a “listening exercise” for Mr Trump to hear what it will take to get to a deal.

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.

Mounting battlefield pressure

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, Mr Zelensky 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.

That, he told reporters on Aug 12, would deprive Ukraine of a vast defensive network in the region, easing the way for Russia to mount a new push deeper into Ukraine in the future.

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. REUTERS