Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump to speak with Zelensky and European leaders today ahead of Putin summit
US president Donald Trump will virtually meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders across Europe and Nato today.
The call, organised by German chancellor Friedrich Merz, comes ahead of Trump’s summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday as he endeavours to end the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky will reportedly travel to Berlin especially for the meeting with Merz and Trump, although other world leaders – including coalition of the willing members such as Sir Keir Starmer – are set to join the conversation.
European leaders remain concerned that they are being sidelined in the Trump-Putin summit and the Russian leader will set his sights on them if a lenient ceasefire deal on Ukraine is brokered.
It comes as Putin has demanded Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donetsk as part of any ceasefire deal potentially brokered by Donald Trump, Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said Mr Putin wanted the remaining 30 per cent, or 3,500 square miles of the region, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the three-and-a-half-year-old war.
But Mr Zelensky vowed Ukraine would “never leave” the Donbas and warned Mr Putin’s troops could use it as a spring board for a future invasion.
