Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
US president Donald Trump said Russia would face “very severe consequences” if it didn’t make a genuine move towards peace at his talks with Vladimir Putin on Friday (18:24), as he briefed the media on “a very good” call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders (18:19).
Trump also floated the idea of a second summit, involving Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, that could follow the his meeting with Putin on Friday if the parties can make good progress towards the end of the war (18:19).
US and European officials are reportedly already looking into potential locations for the meeting, with cities in Europe and the Middle East understood to be under consideration (17:37, 18:41).
But in a revealing passage, Trump also acknowledged that he could not guarantee convincing Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine (18:30) and conceded that a second follow-up meeting was not guaranteed.
Earlier, European leaders from Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, the EU and Nato lined up to praise the call and the coordination between Europe and the US, with German chancellor Friedrich Merz saying Trump “largely shares” the European position on the talks (16:26) and the need to get Ukraine involve in any decisions on its future (16:17, 16:29).
Finnish president Alexander Stubb, known to be closely involved in talks with Trump, said “the next few days and weeks can be decisive” when it comes to Ukraine’s future (17:27).
But Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged partners to put even more pressure on Russia, as he argued that Putin was “bluffing” by claiming that sanctions were not affecting the Russian economy (16:29).
He said that the leaders shared “a common understanding – as long as Russia takes no steps toward peace, we must continue to exert pressure on it and strengthen support for Ukraine,” as he thanked Germany in particular for hosting the talks and signing off on a new $500m package of aid for Ukraine (18:51).
Read our full report on today’s events here:
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
If Russia doesn't move, we need to increase pressure and support Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just offered his take on today’s talks, saying in a social media update that the leaders “share a common understanding – as long as Russia takes no steps toward peace, we must continue to exert pressure on it and strengthen support for Ukraine.”
He also pointedly thanked the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for hosting him in Berlin and convening the leaders’s calls today, as well as the new $500m package for Ukraine (18:27).
