EditEuropeans discuss Ukraine with Trump at ‘critical moment’ for peace
For all the flurry of European shuttle diplomacy, the EU's leverage appears perilously thin
As the nearly four-year war in Ukraine grinds on, European leaders are engaging in a high-wire act of transatlantic diplomacy – one that underscores the bloc’s diminishing sway over Washington and the stark realities of Moscow’s battlefield momentum.
On 11 December, the “E3” powers – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – convened a 40-minute video call with U.S. President Donald Trump to probe his administration’s latest peace overtures.
The discussion, billed by the leaders as a “critical moment” for Ukraine’s future and Euro-Atlantic security, highlighted the chasm between Europe’s aspirations for a balanced resolution and the hard-nosed pragmatism now emanating from the White House.
Trump, fresh from the call, offered a characteristically blunt assessment to reporters: a “spirited” exchange laced with “pretty strong words,” though he demurred on specifics. He reiterated longstanding grievances – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s failure to hold elections since his term expired in May 2025 amid martial law, and Ukraine’s “massive corruption situation” – while signalling conditional openness to a weekend summit in Europe with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy signals openness to wartime elections amid U.S. pressure for quick peace deal
“We said before we go to a meeting we want to know some things,” Trump noted, framing U.S. participation as contingent on Kyiv’s concessions. This echoes the February 2025 Oval Office debacle, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly excoriated Zelenskyy, abruptly nixing a minerals deal and demanding electoral and territorial compromises as prerequisites for continued aid.
Yet, for all the flurry of European shuttle diplomacy, the EU’s leverage appears perilously thin. Brussels, sidelined in these bilateral huddles, has long viewed enlargement and reconstruction as tools to bind Ukraine westward – but Trump’s undeclared war on Europe has neutered such ambitions.
The E3’s joint statements commended Trump’s mediation as a path to “robust and lasting peace,” but analysts see this as diplomatic flattery, unlikely to sway a president who has already withheld $6 billion in U.S. military support since January, citing Zelenskyy’s intransigence.
At the heart of the impasse is a U.S.-backed 20-point peace blueprint, unveiled last month, that tilts heavily toward Russian red lines: territorial cessions in Donbas and Crimea, a demilitarized Ukraine forsaking NATO ambitions, and caps on its armed forces. Kyiv, reeling from recent Russian advances that have captured 15% more territory since October, is frantically refining counter-proposals with London, Paris, and Berlin.
An adviser in Zelenskyy’s office told Interfax that a response is underway, emphasizing “security guarantees” as a standalone pillar – potentially involving NATO-like assurances from guarantors to deter future invasions.
Monday’s London summit yielded pledges of unwavering European backing, but the tempo betrays anxiety more than assurance.
This European frenzy, however, collides with a sobering geopolitical calculus: Vladimir Putin’s sense of upper-hand dominance renders any accord improbable. Bolstered by battlefield gains – enabled by North Korean munitions and a war economy humming at 3.6% GDP growth despite Western sanctions – Putin has dismissed U.S. plans as “less favorable” to Ukraine with each iteration, per Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia’s recent Security Council remarks.
Moscow’s demands remain maximalist: full Donbas handover, regime change in Kyiv, and veto power over Ukraine’s foreign alignments. With Trump echoing Putin’s narrative of Russian superiority (“They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger”), the Kremlin has little incentive to compromise, viewing time as an ally amid Europe’s internal fractures.
Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine is preparing for an online meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on 1 1December – a group of roughly 30 countries coordinating military support to strengthen Ukraine’s security on land, in the air, and at sea.
With Reuters and Suspilne, edited by g.g.
Caption: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron speak to each other as they depart from 10 Downing Street, London, Britain, 8 December 2025. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN
Updated: December 11, 2025 - 07:58
