German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed with Trump the status of ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine, the German government said. They noted that intensive work on the “peace plan” will continue in the coming days.
Merz, Macron, Starmer and Trump “agreed that this is a decisive moment for Ukraine and overall security in the Euro-Atlantic space,” the German government added.
“They're all very good leaders, very good friends of mine, and we've had some pretty tough conversations about Ukraine. We'll see what happens. I mean, we're waiting for answers before we move forward,” Trump said at the White House.
The US President was asked what he means when he talks about “discussed quite harshly.”
“I think we had a little disagreement about [некоторых] people. And we'll see how it ends,” Trump replied. – We said that before going to the meeting [в выходные в Европу]we want to know some things. […] We will make a decision depending on what they answer us. We don't want to waste time.”
He called the whole war situation “ridiculous.”
“Sometimes you have to let people figure it out, and sometimes you don't. But the problem is, if you let them figure it out, thousands of people die every week. It's ridiculous,” Trump said.
Context
On December 8, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Starmer, Macron and Merz discussed in London the progress of negotiations on a “peace plan” for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. “We have a lot of cards in our hands,” Macron noted. Merz said that “the fate of Ukraine is the fate of Europe.”
The Elysee Palace said the meeting in London “allowed us to continue working together” on the US “peace plan” and on what Europe can offer. Much remains to be done with reliable security guarantees and proposals for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, a representative of the French President's office added.
After the meeting in London Zelensky flew to Brusselswhere he spent meetings between EU and NATO leaders – Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Mark Rutte. On December 9, the President of Ukraine held a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, according to media reports, persuaded him to make “painful concessions”.
Next meeting of the “coalition of the willing” will take place on December 11, Zelensky announced. According to Reuters, it will take place in Berlin.
The Ukrainian and US delegations have already held seven rounds of negotiations on a “peace plan” for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. In parallel, the American side is holding discussions on the same issue with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
On December 9, Zelensky said that Ukraine was discussing three documents on peace with the United States and the EU. According to media reports, on December 10, Ukraine provided the United States with a response to the latest draft of the “peace plan.”
