BERLIN: The governments of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pla...
BERLIN: The governments of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plan to decide on August 17 whether their leaders would be travelling to the United States for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, Germany’s Bild daily reported.
According to Bild, the governments of Merz, Starmer and Macron intend on Sunday, August 17, to coordinate their actions and jointly decide whether who would exactly be travelling to the United States on August 18 fro Trump's meeting with Zelensky. However, such a decision requires an official invitation on behalf of the United States, according to Bild.
The daily reported that US President Trump offered Zelensky to invite European politicians to the United States, however, there were no official invitations extended as of yet. Bild added that European leaders seek to avoid a meeting intended solely for publicity.
AFP reported earlier citing the Elysee Palace that the `coalition of the willing’ will convene a meeting via video link on August 17.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who earlier announced that the members of the coalition will hold a conversation soon without disclosing the date, will get together for an online conversation at 3:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT) on Sunday. The three leaders will discuss "next steps as part of the discussion on peace in Ukraine."
The New York Times reported earlier, citing sources, that following his meeting with Putin, the US leader proposed negotiating a peace deal under which Ukraine would give up the rest of the Donbass region to Russia, including areas not liberated by Russian troops, in a phone call with European leaders. A ceasefire in the rest of Ukraine at present-day battlefronts and security guarantees, both for Kiev and Europe, would be offered in return.
On August 15, Putin and Trump met at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. Their talks lasted approximately three hours, including a one-on-one conversation in the American leader’s limousine en route to the main negotiation venue, as well as a subsequent small-group discussion involving three participants on either side.
The Russian delegation included Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. In a statement to the media following the talks, Putin said they mostly focused on resolving the Ukraine conflict.
Trump described his summit with Putin as "very productive." Later, he called Vladimir Zelensky, EU leaders, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. After the summit and the phone calls, Trump stated that Ukraine and Russia should go straight to agreeing on a final peace deal as he dropped his demand for a ceasefire.
Trump and Zelensky are due to have a meeting in the White House on August 18. The US leader said that if talks with Zelensky are a success, another meeting with Putin will be scheduled.
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