Berlin video conference aims to shape Alaska summit outcome

Ahead of the highly anticipated Alaska summit between the US and Russian presidents this week on Ukraine, European leaders are holding joint talks with the US president to align their views under the initiative of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has travelled to Berlin in person on August 13 for the planned Ukraine video conference together with Merz and US President Donald Trump, Caliber.Az reports citing German media.

The spokesperson for the Ukrainian president's office had officially confirmed the trip earlier on Ukrainian television: “The president is working in Berlin today [August 13]. There will be a bilateral meeting with Merz, after which they will take part in the video conference together.”

The virtual summit in the afternoon is intended to prepare for Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, which will mark their first face-to-face interaction since the launch of Russia's war on Ukraine, as well as since Trump's return to office.

According to the German government's spokesman Stefan Kornelius, the preliminary talks will focus “among other things, on further options for increasing pressure on Russia.”

The plan includes several discussion rounds with different participants, with the first one scheduled for the early afternoon, where Merz will bring together close European allies of Ukraine.

Afterwards, the heads of state and government of France, the United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, and Poland, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, will hold talks with Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance.

Trump and Putin are set to meet in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine. Fearing that the two presidents might make decisions over the heads of Ukraine and its Western allies, Merz called for the virtual meeting. This comes after Trump spoke of a potential “land swap” between Russia and Ukraine, an idea firmly rejected by Kyiv in the past. Zelenskyy, for his part, warned any negotiators against making concessions to Putin.

By Nazrin Sadigova