‘There will be severe consequences’ if Russia doesn’t agree to end war, Trump warns
Asked if Russia would face consequences for not moving towards a peace agreement on Ukraine, Trump says: “Yes, they will.”
Asked what exactly would the retaliation entail, he says: “There will be, I don’t have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”
Key events
3h ago
Closing summary
3h ago
If Russia doesn’t move, we need to increase pressure and support Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
3h ago
Trump says he can’t convince Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine
3h ago
Germany pledges to spend $500m on major Nato-backed package for Ukraine
3h ago
‘There will be severe consequences’ if Russia doesn’t agree to end war, Trump warns
3h ago
‘Very good call’ on Ukraine, Trump says as he floats idea of second meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy to finalise peace deal
4h ago
Poland’s Tusk says Russia must not be allowed to set neighbours’ borders, calls for Ukraine’s involvement in decision-making
4h ago
Allies show ‘unity of purpose’ ahead of Trump-Putin meeting, Italy’s Meloni says
4h ago
‘Reassuring’ meeting but questions remain ahead of Trump-Putin talks – snap analysis
4h ago
US looking for site for Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy summit ‘as soon as end of next week’ – reports
4h ago
Trump’s mission is to ‘bring peace to Europe once again,’ JD Vance says
4h ago
Next days, weeks can be decisive for Ukraine, Finnish president Stubb says after ‘excellent’ meeting with leaders
4h ago
Nawrocki’s participation in call agreed with US, Polish presidential aide says
5h ago
Only tough action can stop Russia, Poland says, calling for Ukraine to be involved before final decisions are made
5h ago
Future Trump-Zelenskyy-Putin summit could be held in Europe, Macron suggests
5h ago
‘Unwavering’ support for Ukraine, UK says, ruling out changing borders by force
5h ago
Europeans praise talks with Trump before his meeting with Putin – what we know
5h ago
Europe, US, Nato ‘strenghtened common ground for Ukraine,’ EU’s von der Leyen says
5h ago
‘Very positive’ mood in talks as we speak ‘in one voice,’ Zelenskyy says
5h ago
‘Ball now in Putin’s court,’ Nato’s secretary general says after Trump call
5h ago
‘What concerns Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy says
5h ago
‘There’s hope something is moving,’ Merz says after call with Trump
5h ago
European leaders determined to make Trump-Putin summit a success, Merz says
5h ago
Merz, Zelenskyy briefing media after call with Trump
6h ago
Trump wants ceasefire in Ukraine during Putin meeting, Macron says
6h ago
Poland’s new president says represents Poland at Trump call
6h ago
‘No decisions about future of Ukraine without Ukraine,’ Starmer agrees with Dutch PM Schoof
8h ago
Trump criticises media for ‘very unfair’ coverage of his meeting with Putin
8h ago
Russia insists its ‘maximalist’ conditions for ending war remain unchanged
8h ago
‘They are great people who want to see deal done,’ Trump says before talking to European leaders
9h ago
Merz welcomes Zelenskyy in Berlin
9h ago
Germany’s Merz hosts Zelenskyy as weakened leader 100 days into his term — analysis
9h ago
Zelenskyy arrives in Berlin
10h ago
Estonia moves to expel Russian diplomat over ‘direct, active’ acts ‘undermining constitutional order’ and sanctions
10h ago
Putin to discuss ‘all accumulated issues’ with Trump, Moscow says, dismissing consultations with Europe as ‘insignificant’
10h ago
Hungarian foreign minister criticises Zelenskyy
10h ago
Ukraine confirms €500m loan to help with emergency gas purchases, energy resilience
11h ago
Trump alone in a room with Putin is a recipe for disaster – just look to their last meeting – analysis
11h ago
Stick together and work against Russian ‘deception,’ Zelenskyy says before call with Trump
12h ago
Timings for the day
12h ago
Zelenskyy expected in Berlin to join Merz in person for Trump call, bilateral talks
12h ago
Morning opening: Hello Donald, this is Europe speaking
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Closing summary
Jakub Krupa
… 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 jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
ShareIf 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).
The leaders of US, Ukraine and European countries discussed some potential locations for a follow-up three-way meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy already during today’s call, Reuters says, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Some options under consideration include cities in Europe and the Middle East, it said.
ShareTrump says he can’t convince Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine
Continuing his Q&A, Trump gets asked if he is confident he could get Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine.
He says:
“Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ve had that conversation with him. I’ve had a lot of good conversations with him. Then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home, or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the street.
So I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation.”
That’s where he ends his briefing.
Updated at 12.30 EDT
Germany pledges to spend $500m on major Nato-backed package for Ukraine
Meanwhile, back in Berlin, Germany has just announced it would finance a third major package of military equipment and munitions for Ukraine under a new Nato scheme.
The Netherlands and a group of Nordic countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden – have already pledged to fund the first two packages, each also worth around $500m.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte welcomed the move, saying in a statement:
“I commend Germany for stepping up once again. This delivery will help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.
Germany is the largest European contributor of military aid to Ukraine, and today’s announcement further underlines its commitment to help the Ukrainian people defend their freedom and sovereignty.”
Share‘There will be severe consequences’ if Russia doesn’t agree to end war, Trump warns
Asked if Russia would face consequences for not moving towards a peace agreement on Ukraine, Trump says: “Yes, they will.”
Asked what exactly would the retaliation entail, he says: “There will be, I don’t have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”
Share‘Very good call’ on Ukraine, Trump says as he floats idea of second meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy to finalise peace deal
US president Donald Trump is speaking right now at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
He says:
We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelensky was on the call. I would rate it at 10, you know, very, very friendly.
I know the leaders, because I was at Nato, as you know, I took it from 2% to 5%, 2% that wasn’t paid, 5% that is paid, which is trillions of dollars in defence capability.
It was always going to be I was going to meet with President Putin, and then after that, I’m going to call the leaders and President Zelenskyy – I’m going to call President Zelensky and then I’ll call, probably, in that order, the leaders.
There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing. …
He then says:
“The second meeting, if the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one.
I would like to do it almost immediately, And we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they’d like to have me there, and that would be a meeting where maybe it could be absolutely work [it out] but … certain great things can be gained in the first [meeting], it’s going to be a very important meeting, but it’s setting the table for the second meeting. …
There may be no second meeting, because if I feel that it’s not appropriate to have it, because I didn’t get the answers that we have to have, then we’re not going to have a second meeting.”
SharePoland’s Tusk says Russia must not be allowed to set neighbours’ borders, calls for Ukraine’s involvement in decision-making
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk is now briefing the media after attending the earlier calls with European leaders, but not the main call with Trump.
He says the European priority is to “not even think” of allowing Russia to set the borders of its neighbours, and he insists that Ukraine must be always represented when any final decisions are made.
He pointedly warns that “I know, this is not a speculation, that the Russian side would very much like to include the topic of security [in the talks] … not only of Ukraine, but also of countries like Poland,” for example by calling for a reduction of US or Nato troops in Poland.
But he generally strikes an upbeat tone, saying that even if the talks on Friday don’t lead to a breakthrough, they could help with making progress and paving the way for further progress towards a ceasefire and a further peace settlement.
Interestingly, he tones down the controversy on who represented Poland at the three calls, claiming that the government briefed the president’s office on its position, helping coordinate his and president Nawrocki’s approaches to today’s talks.
But in a hint of irritation, he says that he will want to speak with Nawrocki to make sure that Poland doesn’t get played by “either enemies or allies” and always represents a united front, despite political differences between the government and the president.
ShareAllies show ‘unity of purpose’ ahead of Trump-Putin meeting, Italy’s Meloni says
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has been “deeply satisfied” with “the unity of purpose” showed by partners taking part in today’s calls, her office said in a readout from the meetings with other European partners and Trump.
The statement stressed that Meloni “expressed appreciation for president Trump’s efforts” and stressed the importance of working together with the US to end the war.
It added that “the discussion revealed a strong consensus” on the need of a ceasefire and on the determination to offer further support for Ukraine.
“Now is the time to see what Russia’s attitude will be in Alaska, as it has so far failed to take any significant steps forward,” it ended.
Share‘Reassuring’ meeting but questions remain ahead of Trump-Putin talks – snap analysis
Patrick Wintour
The Europeans’ main objective had been to seek reassurances from the notoriously fickle Trump that he would not be lured into making irretrievable pledges requiring Ukraine to make concessions of land as the price for securing Putin’s agreement to a ceasefire.
One European diplomat said: “Overall the meeting was reassuring in that our points came across, but the question remains whether Trump will stick to the agreed script when he gets into the room with Putin.”
They also tried to extract bankable guarantees that Trump was still prepared to deploy as yet unused economic levers that could damage Russian revenues and play into Putin’s assessment of his bargaining strength.
European leaders have been careful in public to welcome Trump’s summit but in private fear Trump is bent on improving US-Russia relations and sees a loss of Ukrainian sovereignty as a necessary and unavoidable price to secure that objective.
Updated at 11.55 EDT
US looking for site for Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy summit ‘as soon as end of next week’ – reports
For what it’s worth, CBS News is reporting – quoting two sources familiar with the talks – that the US is working on a site for three-way Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy summit “as soon as the end of next week.”
ShareTrump’s mission is to ‘bring peace to Europe once again,’ JD Vance says
Speaking to US soldiers at a military base in England, US vice-president JD Vance said he spoke briefly with Trump after their earlier calls with European leaders and heard that “we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again.”
“But as you all know it is impossible to bring peace anywhere unless the bad guys are also worried that we’ve got a hell of a fine air force, and a hell of a fine military to back up the peace to begin with,” he told soldiers, thanking them for their service.
Updated at 11.36 EDT