 "After his call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Donald Trump said there will likely be a second meeting with Putin that includes Zelenskyy. File image/AFP")
In the next 24 hours, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will come face-to-face in Alaska to discuss the Ukraine war and steps to stop the fighting. This will be the first time the Russian leader has been permitted on Western soil since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
Ahead of this high-stakes meeting, Trump held a con-call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on August 13, which he described as a “very good one”, saying it “was a 10”.
But what took place in that call? What was the message that the European leaders along with Zelenskyy conveyed to Trump? Here’s what we learnt from the call.
Conference call with the biggest names
The call between Trump and European leaders, perhaps, had the biggest names in the world.
There was US President Donald Trump along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK’s Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Poland’s Donald Tusk, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, EU leader Ursula von der Leyen and Nato’s Mark Rutte.
Notably, the host of this call was the German leader. Zelenskyy travelled to Berlin for the meeting and briefed reporters afterwards with Merz. “We had a truly exceptionally constructive and good conversation” with the president, Merz told reporters in brief remarks. “There is hope for movement, there is hope for peace in Ukraine,” he added.
The phone call was followed by another larger meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” that US Vice President JD Vance attended.
Trump praises Europe — a shift in tone
After the digital gaggle, Trump described the call as ‘very good’, rating it as “a 10”. Speaking at the Kennedy Centre, the US president sounded pleased with his allies. “We had a very good call,” he told reporters. “I would rate it a 10. Very friendly.”
Even earlier, Trump was appreciative of his European counterparts; before the call, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Will be speaking to European leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done.”
This is in stark contrast to the American leader’s previous stance on Europe and Ukraine when it comes to the war. Trump has been famously mercurial on the issue of Ukraine; he has frozen out Europe in the past when it comes to the war. Also, he has praised Putin in the past, calling him a genius. However, in the recent past, Trump has issued many verbal diatribes towards Putin — even calling him “crazy”.
Trump won’t discuss land divisions with Putin
In the call, US President Trump agreed that any territorial issues had to be decided with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s involvement. According to two European officials and three other people briefed on the call, Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he does not intend to discuss any possible divisions of territory when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15.
He also told his European counterparts and Zelenskyy that the meeting with Putin had one goal — securing a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump and European leaders agreed that a ceasefire in Ukraine has to be implemented before peace negotiations can begin, the European officials and two other people briefed on the call said. Some of the European leaders were left with the impression from the call that Trump is not optimistic about the results of his meeting with Putin, they added.
Earlier, there had been concerns that Trump and Putin might agree to the parameters of a peace deal, including territorial divisions, and then try to pressure Ukraine to agree to it. Trump’s comments last week that there would “be some land swapping” between Russia and Ukraine, in particular, put Zelenskyy and European leaders on edge.
But the two European officials and three other people briefed on Wednesday’s call said all the leaders agreed that Ukraine must be included in negotiations and should be the one to decide what territorial concessions it might be willing to make. They also said the leaders were united in their belief that if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire, Trump will likely levy new sanctions on Russia.
It is learnt that European leaders left feeling positive about Trump’s plans for his meeting with Putin. One of them said achieving a ceasefire is expected to be the priority for Trump in the meeting. The other person expressed confidence that Ukrainian territory would not be negotiated without Ukraine.
The Politico also reported that Trump was willing to contribute security guarantees for Ukraine — with some conditions. Sources told the news outlet that America was willing to play some sort of role in providing Kyiv with the means to deter future Russian aggression if a ceasefire is reached. However, it’s not clear what Trump meant by security guarantees and only discussed the broader concept.
When asked about the call, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “The White House does not discuss details of the president’s private diplomatic conversations. However, President Trump has been clear that he wants to end this war and stop the killing, and Friday’s meeting with President Putin will serve as an important moment in this process.”
Later on, Trump also signalled that he would get tough with Russia if it didn’t agree to a ceasefire in Friday’s meeting. After the call, when asked if Russia would face consequences if Putin did not agree to stop the war after the Alaska meeting, Trump said: “Yes, they will… very severe consequences.”
Trump eyes trilateral with Putin and Zelenskyy
Following his one-hour call, Trump also said he was planning a second meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon after Friday’s Alaska summit — this time with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy included.
“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” he told reporters. “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
Even France’s Macron spoke on the possible future trilateral, saying that he hoped that such a meeting could be held in Europe “in a neutral country that is acceptable to all parties,” AFP noted.
Trump gets angry with Macron during call
It is learnt that during the video-conference call, Trump “did not like” being called out by France’s Emmanuel Macron. Axios reported that the French president “took very tough positions” and told Trump that a meeting was “a very big thing” to give Putin.
Sources told Axios that “Trump didn’t like that”.
An overall sense of positivity
It seems that the call, did indeed, go very well as everyone involved came out with a sense of positivity with the European leaders seeming upbeat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky himself said afterwards, “Our mood now is that we are united, and it was very positive [as] all the partners spoke in one voice, one desire, the same principles and the same vision and this is an important step forward.”
Even Germany’s Merz said that Trump had agreed to five principles for the talks with Putin. They include keeping Ukraine “at the table” for follow-up meetings on the war and refusing to discuss peace terms, like swaps of land between Russia and Ukraine, before a ceasefire is put in place.
With inputs from agencies