BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is convening an emergency virtual summit on Wednesday with European leaders, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The call comes ahead of Friday’s summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine.
The virtual summit will focus on pressure options against Russia, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, security guarantees for Kyiv and the sequencing of potential peace talks, a German government spokesperson told POLITICO.
Merz and other European leaders demand that Putin first agrees to a ceasefire before any peace talks or land swaps between Moscow and Kyiv can take place.
The spokesperson added that the virtual meetings will start at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, beginning with a one-hour discussion including leaders from Finland, France, the U.K., Italy, Poland, plus the European Commission and European Council presidents as well as Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
The schedule then contains a one-hour discussion from 3 p.m., between the European leaders and Zelensky, with Trump and his Vice President J.D. Vance.
This story is being updated.
