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LAST UPDATE | 13 Aug 2025
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has said Russia should face new sanctions if it refuses to agree to an “immediate ceasefire” at this week’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We hope that the central topic at the meeting will be a ceasefire, an immediate ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said after a call with Trump and European leaders ahead of the US–Russia summit in Alaska on Friday.
“Sanctions must be in place and must be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire,” he added, speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.
Zelenskyy spoke directly with Trump as part of a series of high-stakes meetings in Berlin aimed at defending Ukraine’s interests before Trump’s planned talks with Putin.
The call, hosted by Merz, followed earlier discussions with other European leaders, including the heads of the EU and NATO.
“Putin is bluffing, he’s trying to push all over the front line,” Zelenskyy told reporters.
"I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 13, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes Vladimir Putin isn't willing to make compromises ahead of the summit with Donald Trump in Alaska.https://t.co/auKf9OG0aA pic.twitter.com/xu5ZdsOlEH
He accused Russia of “pretending” it can occupy the whole of Ukraine, adding: “Putin cannot fool us.”
According to Zelenskyy, Trump has said he will contact him after his meeting with Putin on Friday.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the call as “very good”.
“Today Europe, the US and NATO have strengthened the common ground for Ukraine. We will remain in close coordination. Nobody wants peace more than us, a just and lasting peace,” von der Leyen said in a statement.
Macron, who was on the call, said that Trump pledged to seek a ceasefire in Ukraine during the meeting on Friday.
Macron said this objective was “very important” and had “our support”.
“Territorial questions concerning Ukraine can be, and will be, negotiated only by the Ukrainian president,” Macron added.
An online meeting also took place among a smaller group of Ukraine’s key European military supporters, the so-called “coalition of the willing”, which includes Ireland.
The meeting was convened by Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer to coordinate positions ahead of the Alaska summit and heard from Zelenskyy.
Speaking afterwards, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said those involved “agreed that unity is vital and that close transatlantic coordination will continue as part of our efforts to secure a ceasefire and a durable peace”.
He added that there was agreement that “the people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future and that the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine”.
Martin said the coalition “committed to continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine”.
There was also agreement to maintain pressure on Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire, including through the use of sanctions and other economic measures.
Martin also called for Ukrainian children abducted by Russia to be returned to their families and communities.
“Ireland will continue to support Ukraine, both bilaterally and through the EU, on its path towards EU membership and in its efforts to achieve a just and durable peace,” he added.
The flurry of diplomacy comes just two days before Trump and Putin’s first face-to-face talks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
European leaders fear that without their direct involvement, Kyiv could be pressured into making painful concessions, including the loss of territory.
Trump has hinted that “land swaps” could be part of a future settlement — an idea Ukraine and its allies firmly oppose.
Russia branded the European meetings today as “insignificant”.
“We consider the consultations sought by the Europeans to be politically and practically insignificant,” Russian foreign ministry deputy spokesman Alexey Fadeev said in a briefing.
“The Europeans verbally support the diplomatic efforts of Washington and Moscow to resolve the crisis around Ukraine, but in fact the European Union is sabotaging them,” he said.
Fadeev said the EU rhetoric “about supposed support for finding peaceful solutions is just another attempt to stall the settlement process”.
“We will monitor the actions of European countries in connection with the upcoming summit and hope that no steps will be taken that would prevent it from taking place and reaching constructive agreements,” he said.
Trump on Monday played down the possibility of a breakthrough in Alaska but said he expected “constructive conversations” with Putin.
“This is really a feel-out meeting a little bit,” Trump said at the White House, but he also added that eventually “there’ll be some swapping, there’ll be some changes in land”.
Russia, as a prerequisite to a peace settlement, has demanded Kyiv pull its forces out of several regions claimed by Moscow, commit to being a neutral state, shun US and EU military support and be excluded from joining NATO.
Ukraine has said it would never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield.
Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in “difficult” battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country’s east.
Zelensky said on social media that “we see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war.”
“On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations.”
The Russian army made its biggest 24-hour advance into Ukraine in over a yearin the last 24 hours, according to analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Russian army took or claimed 110 square kilometres yesterday, the most land that Russia has claimed since late May 2024.
In recent months, Moscow has typically taken five or six days to progress at such a pace, although Russian advances have accelerated in recent weeks.
Additional reporting from AFP
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