BRUSSELS : European leaders are intensifying diplomatic efforts following their joint visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House, amid uncertainty over Vladimir Putin’s willingness to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.
The “coalition of the willing” is holding fresh talks this week, first in a virtual meeting co-chaired by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, before a wider video conference convened by European Council President António Costa.
The renewed momentum comes as European capitals seek to pressure Donald Trump into adopting a tougher stance toward Moscow, days after his cordial summit with Putin in Alaska. Trump said in Washington that Putin had agreed to face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy in the coming weeks—an encounter that would mark their first meeting since Russia’s invasion began more than three years ago.
Macron has suggested Geneva as a possible venue, while a senior US official indicated that Hungary was also under consideration. Moscow, however, has offered no confirmation. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said only that Putin and Trump discussed “raising the level of representatives” in Ukraine talks, without clarifying whether this included a presidential summit.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed on state television that any direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would require “very thorough” preparation, leaving doubts about whether such talks will materialize.