European leaders seek to bolster Ukraine ahead of Zelenskyy–Trump talks

France, Germany and Britain will meet on Sunday to help shape Ukraine’s position before President Zelenskyy holds high-stakes talks with Donald Trump in Washington.

The virtual summit, set for 1300 GMT, brings together French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who are seeking to reinforce Kyiv’s hand amid pressure from the U.S. to accept a peace deal with Moscow.

The European powers want security guarantees for Ukraine with U.S. involvement and are aiming to set up a trilateral summit involving Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, diplomatic sources said.

The move follows Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, where the Russian leader reportedly offered to freeze the front lines in exchange for Kyiv ceding all of the Donetsk region. A source familiar with the discussions said Zelenskyy rejected the proposal.

"Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war," Zelenskyy said on X, responding to Russia’s refusal to pause hostilities.

Trump, who reversed his earlier stance on demanding a ceasefire, has said Ukraine should “make a deal” because “Russia is a very big power, and they're not.”

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 60 drones and one ballistic missile overnight; 40 of the drones were intercepted or jammed.

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. European leaders may accompany him and are expected to offer strategic advice. Merz said he believed the meeting would be less confrontational than Zelenskyy’s previous Oval Office visit in February, which saw public rebukes from both Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Despite European unity, Merz noted that the U.S. still held the key to shifting Moscow’s position. "The American president has the power both militarily and via appropriate sanctions and tariffs to ensure that Russia moves more than it currently does," he told ZDF.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. It currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including much of Donetsk, which it partially occupied as early as 2014.

Former UK national security adviser Mark Lyall Grant called the Alaska summit a “clear win” for Putin, citing Trump’s retreat from demanding a ceasefire. Still, he said U.S. engagement in long-term security guarantees for Ukraine was “absolutely critical”.

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