The phone call between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders ended after about an hour.
"We know very well that Putin does not want peace, but he cannot fool anyone," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the video meeting.
"We need more pressure from Europe and the United States with more sanctions," he added: "With our European and American partners, we can stop Putin's war." "We hope that the central topic" of the next summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be an immediate ceasefire . "As Trump has said many times, we will have a meeting at the end and discuss the results, if any, discussing future steps together." "Russia cannot veto anything Ukraine wants to do regarding its presence in the European Union and NATO," he concluded.
For Trump, "we had an excellent conversation with Zelensky and European leaders, vote 10."
"President Trump has assured us that he will make the ceasefire his priority for Friday's talks," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said, "in order to reach an agreement. "Up until now, all the talks initiated over the past two and a half years have always ended with an even more aggressive military attack by Russia, and so this is a prerequisite."
"Excellent call with Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders ahead of the US president's meeting with Putin in Alaska," said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte . "We are united in our commitment to ending this terrible war against Ukraine and achieving a just and lasting peace. I appreciate Donald Trump's leadership and close coordination with allies. Now the ball is in Putin's court."
" We have adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia and are preparing another ," French President Emmanuel Macron assured. "Nothing can be ruled out. The adoption of sanctions is a shared goal; they will be conditional on Russia's acceptance of a lasting peace."
The United Kingdom remains committed to providing "unwavering support to Ukraine to ensure its international borders are not changed by force" and calls for "robust and credible security guarantees from its European and NATO allies to defend its territorial integrity as part of any agreement" with Russia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated this, reiterating his willingness to "continue to work alongside President Trump," thanking him and his allies for his negotiating efforts, "and President Zelensky for a just and lasting peace."
Representing Italy, Giorgia Meloni "expressed her great satisfaction with the unity of purpose and capacity for dialogue the West is demonstrating in the face of a fundamental challenge to security and the defense of international law. Now is the time to see what Russia's stance will be in Alaska, as it has so far failed to make any significant progress."
(Unioneonline)