Zelenskyy heads to Berlin for online meeting with Trump, European leaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Berlin on Wednesday for a German-hosted virtual meeting with Donald Trump and European leaders, two days before the US president meets Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Europe's leaders are trying to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests at the first US-Russia summit since 2021.

Trump has said the Alaska talks will be a "feel-out" meeting as he pursues a ceasefire in Moscow's war on Ukraine, having said last week, to consternation in Kyiv and Europe, that any deal would involve "some swapping of territories".

Zelenskyy will meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz before a video conference with the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union at 2 pm (1200 GMT), the hosts said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also attend.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance will join the call at 3 pm (1300 GMT).

EUROPE AND KYIV FEAR UNPREDICTABLE ALASKA DEAL

The unpredictability of the summit in Alaska has fuelled Europeans' fears that the US and Russia could take far-reaching decisions over their heads and even seek to coerce Ukraine into an unfavourable deal.

"We are focusing now to ensure that it does not happen - engaging with US partners and staying coordinated and united on the European side. Still a lot of time until Friday," said one senior official from Eastern Europe.

European leaders, wary of angering Trump, have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine - almost a fifth of which Russia has occupied - without Ukraine's participation.

Trump's administration tempered expectations on Tuesday for major progress toward a ceasefire, calling his meeting with Putin in Alaska a "listening exercise".

Trump's agreement last week to the summit with Putin was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the US peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made "great progress" at talks in Moscow.

Half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters that they see a risk of a deal being struck that is unfavourable for Europe and Ukraine's security. They said European unity would be vital if that happened.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday the summit would be a "listening exercise" for Trump to hear what it would take to get to a deal.

After the meeting with Trump, the "coalition of the willing", a group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, will also convene online.

BATTLEFIELD PRESSURE MOUNTS ON UKRAINE

A Gallup poll released last week found that 69 per cent of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions.

Ahead of the calls, Zelenskyy said it would be impossible for Kyiv to agree to a deal that would require it to withdraw its troops from the eastern Donbas region, a large swathe of which is already occupied by Russia.

That, he told reporters on Tuesday, would deprive Ukraine of a vast defensive network in the region, easing the way for a Russian push deeper into Ukraine in the future.

He said territorial issues could only be discussed once a ceasefire was in place and Ukraine had received security guarantees.

Moscow's troops have recently ramped up pressure on the battlefield, tightening their stranglehold on the cities of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine.