Trump, Zelenskyy, NATO nations hold virtual meeting ahead of Trump-Putin summit

President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of numerous NATO countries held virtual meetings Wednesday ahead of Friday's scheduled summit in Alaska between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Trump joined in a call from the White House. In a social media post ahead of the meeting, he wrote: "Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done."

The president on Wednesday said he hopes there will be a second meeting after the Alaska meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, but that will depend on how Friday's sitdown goes. Asked by a reporter at an event at the Kennedy Center whether there will be consequences for Putin if he doesn't agree to stop the war after the Friday meeting, Mr. Trump said, "There will be very severe consequences." But he declined to specify what those consequences would be.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened the series of virtual meetings in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukrainian leaders heard ahead of the Alaska summit, which they've been sidelined from.

Zelenskyy joined Merz in Berlin, and they met with European leaders earlier Wednesday in preparation for the virtual call with Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance about an hour later.
President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of numerous NATO countries held virtual meetings Wednesday ahead of Friday's scheduled summit in Alaska between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Trump joined in a call from the White House. In a social media post ahead of the meeting, he wrote: "Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done."

The president on Wednesday said he hopes there will be a second meeting after the Alaska meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, but that will depend on how Friday's sitdown goes. Asked by a reporter at an event at the Kennedy Center whether there will be consequences for Putin if he doesn't agree to stop the war after the Friday meeting, Mr. Trump said, "There will be very severe consequences." But he declined to specify what those consequences would be.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened the series of virtual meetings in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukrainian leaders heard ahead of the Alaska summit, which they've been sidelined from.

Zelenskyy joined Merz in Berlin, and they met with European leaders earlier Wednesday in preparation for the virtual call with Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance about an hour later.

"U.S. President Trump will start discussions with President Putin in Alaska about bringing the war to an end, and important decisions could be reached," Merz, standing alongside Zelenskyy, told journalists in a press conference after meeting with Mr. Trump. "We as Europeans are doing everything we can to help set the agenda for that meeting. We're hoping that Donald Trump has success in that meeting in Anchorage."

Merz said that he and Zelenskyy had spoken with Mr. Trump together.

"In Alaska, security interests of Europe and Ukraine must be protected. That is part of what we discussed with President Trump. We were together on the conditions of this meeting and the goals of this meeting on Friday," Merz said.

The German leader said Ukraine would need a seat at the table if peace was to be reached in Ukraine, and that he told Mr. Trump he would speak to him after his Alaska meeting with Putin.