Trump will talk Wednesday with Zelensky, European leaders ahead of Putin summit

President Trump will talk Wednesday morning with European leaders and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of his one-on-one summit later this week with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to end the roughly three-year-long Russia-Ukraine war.  

"Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while, Trump posted on Truth Social early Wednesday morning. "They are great people who want to see a deal done." 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will be among the European leaders on the call who hope to convince Trump to respect Ukraine's interests in its talks with Russia, CNN reported.

Trump is to meet with Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss a ceasefire and a potential end to its war in Ukraine that began in 2022.

Russia downplayed the European leaders' talks.

“We regard the consultations being solicited by the Europeans as politically and practically insignificant actions,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexey Fadeev said at a press briefing.

Fadeev accused the European Union of sabotaging the diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Russia to resolve the war.

“The EU’s rhetoric about its supposed support for finding ways to reach a peaceful settlement is nothing more than another attempt to drag out the settlement process,” he said.