Inside Trump’s 60-minute phone call with Zelensky as Putin meeting det | World | News

US President Donald Trump spoke to Ukrainian President  Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders today, claiming that his goals for Friday’s summit with Vladimir Putin are to achieve a ceasefire and to better understand whether a full peace deal is possible, according to sources with knowledge of the call.

Trump is planning to hold talks with Putin in Alaska on Friday but it has been unclear what the US President is actually planning to achieve through the meeting. Now, he set a concrete plan aligning with the objectives of Ukrainians and Europeans. However, Putin has repeatedly refused the idea of an unconditional ceasefire up until now.

Wednesday’s call, organised by the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, lasted more than an hour. It was perhaps the last chance for Zelensky and key European leaders to shape Trump’s thinking heading into the meeting, Axios has reported.

Calling it a “feel-out” meeting, Trump has downplayed the likelihood of major breakthroughs in Alaska, but French President Emmanuel Macron and Merz confirmed after the call that Trump’s goal is to achieve ceasefire.

A source said that Trump thinks land swaps need to be part of a peace deal and that it is up to Zelensky and Putin to discuss the territories with each other.

But Zelensky has always insisted Ukraine would reject any Russian proposal to give up the Donbas region in exchange for a ceasefire.

Trump has suggested freezing most battle lines in place, with additional “land swaps”, but these would potentially be borders without international recognition.

According to a source who was on the call, Macron took “very tough” positions, asserting that it was a “very big thing” from Trump and Putin to organise the meeting.

Zelensky met with Merz in Berlin shortly after speaking with Donald Trump. Both leaders stressed the importance of safeguarding Ukrainian and broader European interests ahead of the upcoming summit, reflecting unease over potential deals between Trump and Putin.

Zelensky said no diplomatic solution can be achieved without Ukraine, pushing for a trilateral summit involving him, Trump and Putin. He also urged for stronger measures against Moscow, insisting that Putin’s claims of being unaffected by sanctions were merely a façade.