Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he warned US President Donald Trump ahead of his talks with Vladimir Putin this week that the Russian leader is “bluffing” about his desire to end the war.
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday, where Kyiv and its allies are worried the two leaders may try to dictate the terms of peace in the 3-1/2-year war.
“I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy’s comments, made after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders, come as Russian forces step up pressure on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, aiming to force Kyiv to give up land.
Zelenskiy, who said he hoped the main topic of the talks in Alaska would be an immediate ceasefire, added that any discussions regarding territory should be covered during a three-leader meeting.
“Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end this is all decided at the level of leaders,” he said. “Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this.”
Zelenskiy said Trump told him he would debrief him about his talks with Putin.
Trump wants Ukraine to have say on territory talks with Russia, Macron says
US. President Donald Trump has said Ukraine must be involved in talks about land in any truce deal with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, suggesting Kyiv and its European allies had got their message across before a superpower summit.
The comments were among the first indications of what came out of talks between Trump, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, intended to influence Trump as he prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Trump’s insistence on involving Ukraine, if confirmed, could bring a measure of relief to Ukraine and its allies, who have feared that Trump and Putin could reach a deal that sells out Europe’s and Ukraine’s security interests and proposes to carve up Ukrainian territory.
Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskiy flew into Berlin for German-hosted virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump.
The Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, and embolden Putin to expand further west into the future.
“The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president,” Macron said.
“There are currently no serious territorial exchange schemes on the table.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump would prioritise reaching a ceasefire on Friday, adding that there was no question of legally recognising Russia’s territorial holdings.
Zelenskiy said there should be a three-way meeting between himself, Putin and Trump.
Merz said Ukraine was prepared to negotiate on territorial issues, but “legal recognition of Russian occupation is not up for debate”.
“If the United States of America now works towards a peace in Ukraine that safeguards European and Ukrainian interests, he can count on our full support in this endeavour,” Merz said at a joint press conference with Zelenskiy.
Trump rates EU call on Ukraine ‘a ten’
Trump is speaking about the call with European leaders and Zelenskiy. He said:
“We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskiy was on the call. I would rate it a ten, you know, very, very friendly.”
Trump says he expects second meeting with Putin
Trump is still taking questions at the Kennedy Center. He was asked about Zelenskiy’s insistence that he be involved in the Alaska meeting with Putin.
“It was always going to be, I was going to meet with President Putin. And then after that, I’m going to call the leaders and President Zelenskiy. I’m going to call President Zelenskiy, and then I’ll call probably in that order, the leaders,” Trump says.
“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing,” he added.
Later, though, he said: Trump later added that “there may be no second meeting, because if I feel that it’s not appropriate to have it because I didn’t get the answers that we have to have, then we’re not going to have a second meeting.”
Trump: ‘severe consequences’ for Putin if he doesn’t agree to stop the war Friday
Asked if Russia faces any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after the meeting on Friday, Trump said “Yes, they will. There will be consequences.”
A reporter asked if the consequences will be sanctions or tariffs.
“I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences,” Trump says.
