Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 10, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
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Germany seeks Zelenskiy's involvement in Trump-Putin talks, emphasizing European and NATO support to prevent territorial decisions without Ukraine.
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hopes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be involved at the Russia-U.S. summit.
Merz said he will have a call with U.S. president Donald Trump on Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
“We are preparing intensively at the European level together with the U.S. government for this meeting,” Merz said.
“And we hope and assume that the Ukrainian government and President Zelenskiy will be involved in this meeting."
Zelenskiy won diplomatic backing from Europe and the NATO alliance on Sunday ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week where Kyiv fears Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war.
"We cannot accept that territorial issues are decided between Russia and America over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians," Merz said.
He added that there can be no peace that rewards Russia’s aggressive actions and possibly encourages and emboldens further actions.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Chancellor Merz expressed hope that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would be involved in the upcoming Russia-U.S. summit.
Merz stated that it is unacceptable for territorial issues to be decided between Russia and America without the involvement of Europeans and Ukrainians.
Zelenskiy received backing from Europe and the NATO alliance ahead of the Russia-U.S. summit.
Merz emphasized that there can be no peace that rewards Russia’s aggressive actions, as it could encourage further aggression.
Merz mentioned he would have a call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday.
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