Zelensky, European leaders to speak to Trump ahead of Putin summit

August 14, 2025 00:00:00

A boy walks past a destroyed tank at an open air exhibition of destroyed Russian military equipment in Kyiv on Wednesday — AFP

PARIS, Aug 13 (Reuters/AFP): Europe and Ukraine's leaders will speak to US President Donald Trump at a virtual meeting on Wednesday ahead of his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin, as they try to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests in pursuit of a ceasefire.

Trump hosts Putin, a pariah in the West since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, at talks in Alaska on Friday that the US president has said will serve as a "feel-out" meeting in his efforts to end the Russo-Ukraine war.

Trump agreed last week to the first US-Russia summit since 2021, abruptly shifting course after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the US peace imitative. Trump said his envoy had made "great progress" at talks in Moscow.

The US president says both Kyiv and Moscow will have to cede land to end the war. Russian troops have already occupied almost a fifth of Ukraine.

The unpredictability of how the summit will play out has fuelled European fears that the US and Russian leaders could take far-reaching decisions 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.

Russia makes biggest

24-hour Ukraine

advance in over a yr

The Russian army made its biggest 24-hour advance into Ukraine in over a year on Tuesday just ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, according to an AFP analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The Russian army took or claimed 110 square kilometres (42.5 square miles) on August 12 compared to the previous day. It was the most since late May 2024.

In recent months, Moscow has typically taken five or six days to progress at such a pace, although Russian advances have accelerated in recent weeks. The US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, are to meet in Alaska on Friday.