Trump Says Major Ukraine Deal Could Cover Europe After Kremlin Envoy Meeting; Moscow and Brussels Cool Expectations

In brief

• Trump said he met Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev and floated a large Ukraine agreement that could also affect Europe, giving no details.
• The Ukrainian delegation in Washington did not meet Trump, according to his account.
• Moscow and the European Commission cooled expectations, while European officials insisted on a role in any talks.

Trump floats a broad agreement

US President Donald Trump said he had met Kirill Dmitriev, an adviser to the Kremlin, at the White House on Thursday (Verhaltene Reaktionen auf Trumps Ankündigung eines Ukraine-Abkommens – tagesschau.de) (Ukraine-Krieg - Nach Trump-Äußerungen: EU pocht auf Beteiligung Europas bei möglichen Friedensverhandlungen – Deutschlandfunk). He gave no account of what they discussed, but suggested an agreement on the war in Ukraine was taking shape. Speaking to reporters, he said the deal could affect not only Ukraine but possibly all of Europe, and that everyone would be pleased with it (Ukraine: Friedrich Merz telefoniert mit Donald Trump, Kreml dämpft Erwartungen nach Ukraine-Ankündigung – DER SPIEGEL) (Dmitrijew in den USA: Trump schluckt Putins Köder – FAZ.NET).

Ukrainian delegation left out of the meeting

Trump did not hold talks with the Ukrainian delegation that had also travelled to Washington, according to his own account. Russian and Ukrainian delegations are due to hold their first talks since February in Abu Dhabi next week, under US mediation.

Moscow and Brussels temper expectations

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow sees no readiness on the European side to discuss questions of a future security order on the continent. He also noted that Europeans have not yet named a negotiator (Ukrainekrieg: Russland will Ordnung in Europa mitbestimmen und sieht wenig Bereitschaft – DER SPIEGEL). The European Commission said much work remained and that Russia had shown "not much movement" so far, though it welcomed the resumption of talks.

Europe's seat at the table

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Europe must play a central role in any Ukraine settlement, and that US negotiators, though not always aligned with European positions, were the only ones able to bring Russia and Ukraine together (Nach Trump-Äußerung - Wadephul: "Europa muss zentrale Rolle bei Ukraine-Lösung spielen" – Deutschlandfunk). Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said Trump's remarks appeared to contain more than usual rhetoric, but that Europe still sat at the margins of talks. Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with Trump by phone following the announcement.

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