Impotent European leaders gathered in a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to draw their “line in the sand” with regard to U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This report comes from Vedomosti. The meeting was chaired by Chancellor Merz, who indicated that he and other European nations had prepared additional sanctions on Russia if the Anchorage meeting did not meet their demands. The demands are an immediate ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine. Merz is also demanding that a meeting with Ukraine at the table be called immediately after the Trump-Putin meeting. He said that territorial issues might be discussed, but that these must be determined at the present line of conflict.
Macron said that there was no discussion of “territories” at the meeting and namby-pamby NATO chief said that “the ball is in Putin’s court,” but that they desired to see a peaceful resolution to the crisis. President Trump spoke with the leaders and with Zelenskyy on the phone while they were assembled. He reported later that the discussions with them were good, but he also replied that if he didn’t reach a conclusion that he was satisfied with at the meeting with Putin, there would be “serious consequences.” He also mooted the possibility of a meeting with Zelenskyy afterwards, but also indicated that that might not happen right away. There are also reports that both Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated in the meeting at a certain point.
