European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, joined Trump in a last-minute video conference to outline their red lines before Friday’s meeting between the US and Russian presidents in Alaska, the Reuters news agency reported.
Zelensky said afterward that Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a postwar settlement, while French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land, according to Reuters.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Trump—along with Europe—was prepared to increase pressure on Moscow if the Alaska talks failed.
Trump's apparent willingness to heed allied concerns, if confirmed, would ease fears he might strike a deal with Putin over Europe’s head at Ukraine’s expense.
"President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska," said Macron. "The second point … is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president."
Merz, who hosted the call, said that the principle that borders cannot be changed by force must remain intact.
Trump and Putin are set to discuss ways to end the three-and-a-half-year-old war, the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Trump has previously suggested both sides may need to exchange territory to secure peace—a proposal Kyiv has rejected.
Trump on Wednesday threatened "severe consequences" if Putin blocked peace in Ukraine.
He also said that his meeting with the Russian leader on Friday could swiftly be followed by another that would include Zelensky, multiple news outlets reported.
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Source: Reuters, IAR, PAP