Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders will hold a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on August 13 — two days before his meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, reported Bloomberg. Among the European leaders participating in the conversation will be German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the Prime Ministers of Italy, Poland, and Finland.
The talks will consider «further options for pressure on Russia» and «preparation for possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security».
Later, the information was confirmed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the social network X.
On Monday, Donald Trump held a press conference, part of which was dedicated to the meeting with Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska. He noted that the meeting will be «preliminary», so the participation of the Ukrainian side is not planned, but he promised to eventually bring Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin «in one room».
According to Donald Trump, if the meeting on August 12 goes well, then the next step — a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, or Trump and Zelensky.
Additionally, Trump promised to «try to reclaim» part of the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian army. «It is very difficult because you have a line that is very uneven and there will be certain land exchanges. We will change the front line. Russia occupies a significant part of Ukraine's territory, we will try to return part of this territory back to Ukraine», — he stated, noting that the exchange of territories will be «for the benefit of Ukraine».
The U.S. President also responded to Zelensky's words about the Constitution of Ukraine prohibiting the transfer of territories. «Zelensky said he needs constitutional consent... He had consent to go to war and kill everyone. But he needs consent to make a land exchange... There will be a certain land exchange. I know this from the Russians and thanks to talks with everyone», — Trump stated.
As writes Financial Times, according to polls, about 75% of Ukrainians reject the transfer of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, or renunciation of NATO, 54% would agree to a «frozen front» with U.S. and EU guarantees and gradual lifting of sanctions.
Meanwhile, the publication notes that Putin's goals remain unchanged: no NATO, non-nuclear status, demilitarization, and «denazification», complete withdrawal from the four annexed regions and recognition of them as Russian. Despite the fact that revenues from energy sales fell by 20% in January-July compared to the same period last year, the economic situation is not yet critical enough to change the Kremlin's policy.
As the publication writes, the summit in Alaska on August 15 — a diplomatic victory for Moscow: for the first time since 2007, they were offered talks with the U.S., with no Ukrainians or Europeans at the table.