In a phone call between them tomorrow, European leaders hope to persuade US President Trump to join them in talks with President Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.

As the time of the US-Russia presidents’ meeting in Alaska (on Friday) approaches, European foreign ministers are in a “fever” of extraordinary talks between them to discuss their next steps, as Europe fears Ukraine will be blocked and forced to make unacceptable territorial compromises to end the war.

Trump, however – and as the Kremlin is already talking about “provocations” designed to sabotage or even prevent talks between the two presidents – has made it clear that the key concept of the talks will be to convince the Russian president that “you have to end this war, you have to stop it”, and has made it clear that there will be a “territory swap”. And that’s what both the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders, whom Trump has promised to brief if Putin proposes “a fair deal,” are concerned about.

And as long as European leaders fear that they will be turned into… a footnote in the talks and forced to “swallow” terms unacceptable to the EU in a potential peace deal, it remains unclear what this “exchange of territory” that Trump is talking about could be. Yes, the US president says he will try to take back occupied Ukrainian territory from Russia, but what is it that he might give? Especially with Zelensky avoiding him… politely, telling him that he needs a change to the Ukrainian constitution, even hinting at a possible referendum before he can approve a territory swap, infuriating Trump: “So he has approval to go to war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a territory swap?”
The US president wonders, annoyed by his Ukrainian counterpart’s attitude.

The Trump plan wants during their meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose his terms for ending the war. The US side knows from Kremlin “leaks” that what the Russian side will ask for is to maintain its territorial conquests and possibly change the legal status quo for certain regions (for example, recognition of Crimea as de facto Russian). If the groundwork for a deal is laid, President Trump will get on the phone “out of respect” first with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – possibly also to set up a meeting with Putin, or with him to convey the Russian side’s demands, which is considered more likely – and then with European leaders to brief them.

As for the EU now, as calls from European leaders not to opt out of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska grow, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has revealed a US promise that Trump will consult with the Europeans before the meeting.

That is why Berlin has been tasked with coordinating all sides to hold a telephone conversation tomorrow, Wednesday, between a group of European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President J.D. Vance, so that all sides can coordinate before the Alaska meeting. The call is expected to be attended by the Presidents of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Finland, representatives of the UK, the EU and NATO.