Just two days ahead of a summit with President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump has warned Russia of "very severe consequences" if it doesn't halt its war against Ukraine.
Trump gave no details on what consequences Moscow could face if it doesn't put an end to more than 3 1/2 years of war in Ukraine, but he spoke on August 13 shortly after being urged by several European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to protect fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests.
"The aim is to end the war," he said of what he hopes to achieve at the August 15 summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson just outside Anchorage, Alaska.
Before Trump spoke, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said a call with the US leader and top officials from around Europe was "very good," while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz characterized the video conference as "constructive."
Trump also called the video conference "very good" and said that if his meeting with Putin goes well, he would like to have a quick second meeting with both Putin and Zelenskyy.
He gave no time frame for such a meeting, and said Russia would face consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war.
"We hope that the central topic at the [Trump-Putin] meeting will be a cease-fire. An immediate cease-fire," Zelenskyy told a news conference in Berlin after the call, which he attended with Merz.
The talks between Trump and Putin are aimed at finding a path to end the conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War II. Trump has said both sides will have to swap land to end intense fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides and displaced millions of Ukrainians.
Appearing to be on the outside looking in ahead of the talks, European leaders and Zelenskyy have been scrambling to make sure their voices are heard.
Washington appears to be preparing Kyiv and Moscow for major compromises to end the war, with US Vice President JD Vance warning any peace deal will likely leave both sides "unhappy."
But French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump was "very clear" in the August 13 call that he wants to achieve a cease-fire at the summit and that Trump had been clear that "territorial issues relating to Ukraine...will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president."
Trump will also "seek a future trilateral meeting" involving Zelenskyy, Macron said.
"There are currently no serious territorial exchange schemes on the table.... I think that’s a very important point in this regard. And we hope that it can be held in Europe, in a neutral country that is acceptable to all parties," he added.
If Trump's insistence on involving Ukraine is confirmed, it would help ease fears among Ukraine and its allies that leaders of the two superpowers could reach an accord that sells out Europe's and Ukraine's security interests and proposes to give Ukrainian territory to Moscow.
"Trump's thinking is apparently closer aligned with that of the Europeans than first feared by some," one European official told RFE/RL after the call.
Russia has consistently given the idea of a meeting with Zelenskyy the cold shoulder, suggesting it should only happen once the sides are close to signing a peace deal, not just a cease-fire agreement.
That moment seems far off given the huge gap between the Russian and Ukrainian positions that persists on several major issues, including territory and security, despite three rounds of direct talks in Turkey since mid-May.
The talks come at a pivotal moment, with Trump increasingly frustrated with Putin and the Russian president showing no signs of bending on the Kremlin's maximalist demands. Trump and Putin have held six phone calls, and the White House's lead envoy has traveled to Moscow at least three times.
The decision to meet Putin face-to-face -- something Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, refused to do following the invasion -- reflects Trump's belief that his relationship with the Russian leader will yield a durable peace agreement.
"The Prime Minister was clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering -- international borders must not be changed by force and Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal," a readout of the call from Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Downing Street office said.
