European leaders make statement after Trump-Putin meeting: details
16 August 2025 14:10
European leaders and top EU officials issued a joint statement after the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. They said they were ready to help organize a trilateral summit.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the statement of the European leaders, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The statement was made by:
- french President Emmanuel Macron,
- italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni,
- german Chancellor Friedrich Merz,
- prime Minister of Berytania Keir Starmer,
- president of Finland Alexander Stubb,
- prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk,
- president of the European Council Antonio Costa,
- president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
In the morning, Trump briefed the European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the results of his meeting with Putin.
“As President Trump said: “There is no deal until there is a deal”. As President Trump envisions, the next step is further negotiations, including with President Zelensky, whom he will meet with in the near future,” the statement said.
European leaders are also ready to work with Trump and Zelensky on a trilateral summit with European support.
“We make it clear that Ukraine must have inviolable security guarantees in order to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome President Trump’s statement that the United States is ready to provide security guarantees. “The ‘Coalition of the Resolute’ is ready to play an active role,” the document says.
Europe believes that Russia cannot have a veto over Ukraine’s path to the EU and NATO, and that Ukrainians should make decisions about their territory themselves.
European leaders also pledged to continue their assistance to Ukraine and to strengthen sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy’s reaction
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the statement by European leaders. He emphasized the need to achieve a real peace that will last, and not become another pause between Russian invasions.
“We must stop the killings as soon as possible, cease fire both on the battlefield and in the sky and against our port infrastructure. We must release all Ukrainian military and civilian prisoners of war and return the children abducted by Russia,” the President added.
According to Zelenskyy, in a conversation with Trump, he said that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia evades an honest end to the war.
“All issues that are important for Ukraine should be discussed with the participation of Ukraine, and no issue, including territorial issues, can be resolved without Ukraine,” he emphasized.
US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin met in Alaska. The talks were in a three-on-three format and lasted three hours. Afterward, they gave a short press conference.
