Europe Demands Role in Ukraine Talks After Trump-Putin Call

After being blindsided by US President Donald Trump’s call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, European leaders said they — and Ukraine — need to be part of any negotiation over Kyiv’s future. The biggest concern is that before any actual peace negotiations, Trump has already gifted Putin an advantage by starting the conversation without Ukraine. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the phone call wasn’t a betrayal, while saying that a peace deal “will require both sides recognizing things they don’t want to.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he told Trump not to trust Putin, but the conversation with Moscow clearly unsettled Ukraine. Officials told us that the US president’s team has been pressing in private for Zelenskiy to hold elections, which have been suspended since Russia’s invasion. The wartime leader’s approval ratings have been slumping, and as public fatigue deepens, Zelenskiy is under pressure to take the unpopular step of lowering the conscription age.