Zelenskyy calls for European role in planned Ukraine peace talks with Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would like European leaders to participate in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Ukrainian head of state said this during a meeting of the “coalition of the determined,” Caliber.Az reports per RBC-Ukraine.

Zelenskyy noted that he is already prepared for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“There are sensitive issues to discuss—there still are—and we believe that the participation of European leaders (in the meeting) could prove useful,” the Ukrainian president added.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump took to the social network Truth Social to share his expectation to meet with Russian and Ukrainian leaders: "I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages."

He expressed hope for the soonest achievement of peace between Russia and Ukraine: "... let’s all hope that PEACE can be accomplished AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"

The American leader noted that a meeting with the Russian president could take place when the agreement is in its final stages of development. Trump also instructed his special envoy Steve Witkoff to arrange a meeting with Putin in Moscow.

Zelenskyy's remarks signal a strategic push for European solidarity amid accelerating U.S.-led diplomacy, potentially averting perceptions of Ukraine being sidelined in Trump's 28-point peace plan. The coalition meeting, held virtually, also agreed to form a working group with the U.S. on security guarantees for Ukraine, including the deployment of a "reassurance force" post-ceasefire, as announced by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The call for European involvement comes amid a flurry of developments in the U.S.-brokered peace process, following Zelenskyy's November 19–20 talks in Ankara with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and subsequent U.S.-Ukraine meetings in Geneva on November 23. These discussions refined the Trump administration's 28-point framework, which proposes a ceasefire along current frontlines, Ukraine's permanent neutrality (no NATO path), military caps, and phased sanctions relief for Russia in exchange for reconstruction aid.

By Khagan Isayev