Morning opening: Whats up Donald, that is Europe talking
Jakub Krupa
European leaders will communicate with the US president, Donald Trump, and his vice-president, JD Vance, at the moment, consulting forward of this Friday’s summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Representing Workforce Europe are the host, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.
They are going to be joined by the European Fee president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council president, António Costa, and that well-known Trump-whisperer, the Nato secretary common, Mark Rutte.
They are going to be additionally joined by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who in an additional present of unity along with his companions won’t solely be on the decision, however can be becoming a member of the host in individual in Berlin.
The sequence of calls will start with inside consultations between European leaders and Zelenskyy round 2pm native time, adopted by a name with Trump an hour later and a debrief of “the coalition of the willing” later.
The decision with Trump would be the European leaders’ final probability to considerably form Trump’s ideas going into the assembly in Alaska on Friday, and repeat a number of the purple traces put ahead by Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has beforehand mentioned Ukraine couldn’t conform to a Russian proposal to surrender extra of his nation’s territory in alternate for a ceasefire as a result of Moscow would use what it gained as a springboard to start out a future battle.
Final week Russia indicated it was ready to contemplate a ceasefire within the Ukraine battle for the primary time, in alternate for Ukraine withdrawing from the elements of Donbas it nonetheless managed. Although Trump then urged that Russia and Ukraine might have interaction in some “swapping of territories”, Zelenskyy mentioned he understood that Russia was “simply offering not to advance further, not to withdraw from anywhere” and that swaps weren’t on the desk.
With rising uncertainty about which Trump will present as much as talks with Putin in Alaska on Friday – the one who repeatedly mentioned was “disappointed” with Putin, or the one who needs to reset relations with Moscow – this may very well be one of the vital consequential telephone calls in years for Europe and Ukraine’s future.
I’ll deliver you all the important thing updates right here.
It’s Wednesday, 13 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Dwell.
Good morning.
Key occasions
Trump alone in a room with Putin is a recipe for catastrophe – simply look to their final assembly – evaluation
Andrew Roth
in Washington
The teachings of Helsinki are clear: placing Donald Trump alone in a room with Vladimir Putin is an unpredictable – and infrequently harmful – affair.
It was 2018 when the 2 leaders met on the invitation of Sauli Niinistö, the Finnish president, to debate a collapse in US-Russia relations, accusations of elections interference, and the grinding battle in east Ukraine, amongst different subjects.
By the point he got here out of the room, Trump seemed dazzled by the Kremlin chief. Requested at a press convention in regards to the conclusions of the US intelligence group that Russia had interfered within the elections, Trump mentioned: “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
One way or the other, the stakes are even greater as Trump and Putin plan to satisfy on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, the place Trump has mentioned the 2 will talk about “land swapping” in Putin’s first assembly with a G7 chief since his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
European leaders are fearful that Trump might as soon as once more emerge from a closed-door assembly preaching the Kremlin gospel.
The White Home has been decreasing expectations for the summit – an indication that no concrete deal is on the desk. “This is really a feel-out meeting, a little bit,” Trump mentioned throughout a information convention on Monday.
However Putin will nonetheless attempt his luck to form Trump’s picture of what a peace deal might entail in a method that can deliver most profit to the Kremlin.
Putin “wants a deal with Trump that will be presented to Kyiv and other European capitals as a fait accompli,” wrote John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Middle and a former ambassador to Ukraine.
The lack of invitations for European leaders “has the smell of the Yalta Conference in 1945 … where the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom decided the fate of half of Europe over the heads of those nations”.
Karoline Leavitt, the White Home press secretary, mentioned on Tuesday that the assembly between Trump and Putin could be one-on-one, and a “listening exercise” for Trump throughout which he might suss out the Russian standpoint.
“That’s the way Trump does it. He just wings it,” mentioned Fiona Hill, the previous presidential aide.
“And Putin likes sparring … he prides himself on being able to be light on his feet in these kinds of settings,” she mentioned.
The shortage of advisers within the room has raised a key query: will any agreements made in a personal setting, even when interpreters or different notetakers are current, result in lasting outcomes?
Stick collectively and work in opposition to Russian ‘deception,’ Zelenskyy says earlier than name with Trump
In his newest replace earlier than travelling to Berlin, Zelenskyy repeated his key traces about “putting pressure on Russia” to attain a peace settlement.
However in what appears like a pointed warning about Putin, he added:
We should be taught from the expertise of Ukraine, our companions, to forestall deception by Russia. There isn’t any signal now that the Russians are making ready to finish the battle.
He mentioned that “our coordinated efforts and joint steps … can definitely force Russia to make peace.”
Timings for the day
As a part of what guarantees to be a very busy day for diplomacy, we’re additionally anticipating to get press statements from Merz and Zelenskyy round 3pm BST (4pm CEST), after their name with Trump.
So that will help you plan your day, the tough timings look like:
1pm BST, 2pm CEST – Inside Europe name with Zelenskyy
2pm BST, 3pm CEST – Name with Trump and JD Vance
3pm BST, 4pm CEST – Press statements by Merz and Zelenskyy, name with “the coalition of the willing”
Zelenskyy anticipated in Berlin to affix Merz in individual for Trump name, bilateral talks
The German authorities’s spokesperson has confirmed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy can be “working in Berlin” at the moment, becoming a member of Merz in individual for the decision with Trump and Vance.
The pair can be anticipated to satisfy for a separate bilateral assembly, anticipated to be a additional present of assist from the German chancellor.
Morning opening: Whats up Donald, that is Europe talking
Jakub Krupa
European leaders will communicate with the US president, Donald Trump, and his vice-president, JD Vance, at the moment, consulting forward of this Friday’s summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Representing Workforce Europe are the host, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.
They are going to be joined by the European Fee president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council president, António Costa, and that well-known Trump-whisperer, the Nato secretary common, Mark Rutte.
They are going to be additionally joined by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who in an additional present of unity along with his companions won’t solely be on the decision, however can be becoming a member of the host in individual in Berlin.
The sequence of calls will start with inside consultations between European leaders and Zelenskyy round 2pm native time, adopted by a name with Trump an hour later and a debrief of “the coalition of the willing” later.
The decision with Trump would be the European leaders’ final probability to considerably form Trump’s ideas going into the assembly in Alaska on Friday, and repeat a number of the purple traces put ahead by Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has beforehand mentioned Ukraine couldn’t conform to a Russian proposal to surrender extra of his nation’s territory in alternate for a ceasefire as a result of Moscow would use what it gained as a springboard to start out a future battle.
Final week Russia indicated it was ready to contemplate a ceasefire within the Ukraine battle for the primary time, in alternate for Ukraine withdrawing from the elements of Donbas it nonetheless managed. Although Trump then urged that Russia and Ukraine might have interaction in some “swapping of territories”, Zelenskyy mentioned he understood that Russia was “simply offering not to advance further, not to withdraw from anywhere” and that swaps weren’t on the desk.
With rising uncertainty about which Trump will present as much as talks with Putin in Alaska on Friday – the one who repeatedly mentioned was “disappointed” with Putin, or the one who needs to reset relations with Moscow – this may very well be one of the vital consequential telephone calls in years for Europe and Ukraine’s future.
I’ll deliver you all the important thing updates right here.
It’s Wednesday, 13 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Dwell.
Good morning.
