‘Wants ceasefire, but no territory deal without...': Here's what Trump, Zelensky and EU allies discussed on virtual call
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Wants ceasefire, but no territory deal without...': Here's what Trump, Zelensky and EU allies discussed on virtual call")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump Photograph: (Reuters)
Following the call, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky were briefing the media. Merz said that the European leaders are determined to make the Trump-Putin summit a "success".
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (August 13) held a virtual call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European allies ahead of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Trump stressed that he wants a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Putin meeting.
French President Emmanuel Macron, after the call, said that Trump told European leaders that he “wanted to obtain a ceasefire in Ukraine during a meeting with Putin.” He further stressed that any territorial exchange in Ukraine “must only be discussed with Ukraine".
“The American will is to obtain a ceasefire,” Macron said, adding that “the exchange with President Trump allowed him to declare his intentions for the meeting on the 15 August and allowed us to very clearly explain our expectations.”
Following the call, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky were briefing the media. Merz said that the European leaders are determined to make the Trump-Putin summit a "success".
“Us Europeans therefore do what we can to set the course for this meeting in the right way,” he said, adding that Zelensky has been involved in the preparations throughout.
He further said that Ukraine must be at the table at the next meeting. While talking about the territorial issue, Merz stressed the European principle that “borders must not be changed through violence”.
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“We made it clear that Ukraine must be at the table at the next meeting. We want things to go in the right sequence: We want a ceasefire at the very beginning, and then a framework agreement must be drawn up. If Ukraine is prepared to talk about territorial negotiations, then we need to make sure that there are no violent changes to the border,” Merz said.
“We need robust security guarantees for Kyiv and there need to be Ukrainian forces there in order to defend the sovereignty of the country, and they also need to be able to depend on Western aid for that," he added.
“The strategy is based on supporting Ukraine and putting pressure on Russia. So if in Alaska there’s no movement on the Russian side, then the US and the Europeans need to increase the pressure.”
"There is hope that something is moving. There’s hope that there could be peace in Ukraine," he added.
