President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of numerous NATO countries were set to hold a virtual meeting Wednesday ahead of Friday’s scheduled summit in Alaska between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump is slated to be in the White House.
“Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post ahead of the meeting.
Zelenskyy will join German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, the German government said.
Merz is convening a series of virtual meetings Wednesday in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukrainian leaders heard ahead of the summit, which they’ve been sidelined from.
Zelenskyy is expected to meet with European leaders first, in preparation for a virtual call with Mr. Trump and Vice President Vance about an hour later. A call among leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — will be last.
Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukraine and its allies must work together push Russia to end its invasion, French news agency AFP reported.
“Pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a fair peace. We must learn from the experience of Ukraine and our partners to prevent deception on the part of Russia. There are currently no signs that the Russians are preparing to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in a social media statement.
On Wednesday, Merz pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets as the Kyiv government fights to repel Russia’s invasion.
Mr. Trump has said he wants to see whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year, describing Friday’s summit as “a feel-out meeting” where he can assess the Russian leader’s intentions.
Yet Mr. Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He has also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.
European allies have pushed for Ukraine’s involvement in any peace talks, fearful that discussions that exclude Kyiv could otherwise favor Moscow.
Mr. Trump on Monday ducked repeated chances to say that he would push for Zelenskyy to take part in his discussions with Putin, and was dismissive of Zelenskyy and his need to be part of an effort to seek peace. Mr. Trump said that following Friday’s summit, a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders could be arranged, or that it could also be a meeting with “Putin and Zelenskyy and me.”
Zelenskyy warned that “talks about us, without us, will not work.”
Ukrainian and European concerns
The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the European Union, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.
The overarching fear of many European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.
Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.
He said diplomatic discussions led by the U.S. focusing on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations and rehabilitate Putin.
General Sir Richard Shirreff, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told CBS News partner network BBC News he didn’t believe Friday’s meeting between Mr. Trump and Putin could lead to an end of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Russia has to recognize and Putin has to recognize that Zelenskyy is president of Ukraine, recognize the Ukrainian constitution and Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign state. And that is only going to happen … when Russia gets a really bloody nose. And for that to happen, we need to see some proper strategic thinking from NATO – from the president of the United States – that recognizes that this is about transatlantic security.”
Shirreff said an end to the war would require Ukraine becoming a member of NATO.
“Even if Putin moves on or falls under a bus, we’re probably likely to get somebody in place just as hard-line, just as ultra-nationalistic, and just as determined to press on (with Russia’s takeover of Ukraine),” Shirreff said. “So I think we have to recognize that European security means deterrence – a band of deterrent steel, as I’ve said many times – from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with Ukraine as a NATO member. Now, however far-fetched that may seem from where we are at the moment, that’s the reality. … Any sort of compromise now, any so-called freezing of conflict, is only going to continue to postpone it.”
Trump-Putin summit to take place on Alaskan military base
The summit between Mr. Trump and Putin will be the first in-person meeting between Putin and a sitting U.S. president since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.
The meeting will take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, on the northern edge of Anchorage, a senior White House official told CBS News Tuesday. Given that it is peak tourist season in Alaska, there were few viable options to host the talks. Possible venues for the high-stakes meeting also needed to meet security requirements.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier Tuesday that the mechanics of the meeting were “still being ironed out.”
Leavitt described the meeting as “a listening exercise for the president.”
“Only one party that’s involved in this war is going to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end,” Leavitt said.
“Trump has obviously not been listening at all because it’s very clear — and Putin continues to make it clear — what his demands are, and he’s not stepped back one iota from his maximalist demands,” former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Shirreff said. “And those, as we’ve heard, are simply impossible for Ukraine to accept without capitulation.”
Speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room Monday, Mr. Trump expressed optimism that his meeting with Putin will be “constructive,” and said that he is planning to establish an in-person meeting involving Putin and Zelenskyy.
“The next meeting will be with Zelenskyy and Putin or Zelenskyy and Putin and me,” Mr. Trump said.
Two sources familiar with those negotiations told CBS News Tuesday that the U.S. is working on a site for a Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy meeting as soon as the end of next week.
contributed to this report.