Der Spiegel: Many European leaders don’t trust Trump and call on Zelensky to be cautious
German magazine Der Spiegel reported that a leaked recording of a call between European leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky showed that many European leaders don’t trust US President Donald Trump.
The German magazine, which says it has seen the recording of the call, noted that Europeans have publicly praised the results of Trump’s talks with Zelensky, but despite their public statements, they aren’t so optimistic.
It suggested that European leaders are seeking to maintain Trump’s support for Ukraine by praising and endorsing his statements about progress in the settlement.
According to the recording, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz advised Zelensky to be cautious on issues of land ceding, security guarantees and reconstruction.
The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian prime ministers asked Zelensky to brief them on the results of his talks with Trump in detail, particularly on promises of security guarantees.
European leaders have been insisting that everything be written on paper and that Zelensky shouldn’t make any concessions on the territory issue without firm security guarantees.
It noted that Merz was expressing his readiness to sign the possible agreement after its terms were announced.
European leaders have advised that Zelensky should ask Trump about Russia’s position on the existing version of Trump’s plan.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron also asked Zelensky to ask Trump about the administration’s next steps if Russia rejects the revised US peace plan in the wake of consultations between Washington and the Europeans.
European leaders held contact with outgoing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of his talks with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on December 28.
After the talks between Trump and Zelensky, the two made new contact with European leaders.
Trump described his talks with Zelensky as excellent and spoke of progress on the settlement process.
