German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in entrance of Chancellery forward of a digital assembly between European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump on August 13, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Filip Singer/Getty Pictures Europe
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Filip Singer/Getty Pictures Europe
INKOO, Finland — Ukraine’s President has arrived in Berlin forward of a sequence of excessive stakes European summits on Wednesday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy was met by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz forward of a sequence of pressing conferences aimed toward bolstering help for Ukraine — and constructing affect with President Donald Trump earlier than his assembly Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Throwing forward to his name with European companions, on Wednesday morning President Trump posted on Fact Social, “might be chatting with European Leaders in a short time. They’re nice individuals who wish to see a deal achieved.”
In Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, there’s little optimism these efforts will succeed. “Take it from us,” Finnish Overseas Minister Elina Valtonen posted on X earlier this 12 months. “Putin has no intention to cease his expansionist pursuit.”
The Trump-Putin assembly would be the first between the Russian chief and a U.S. president since earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Some European officers have publicly welcomed the talks, however others warn they may come at a steep value.
“We welcome the efforts of President Trump to succeed in peace for Ukraine — a peace that’s simply and lasting and respects sovereignty,” mentioned European Fee spokesperson Arianna Podesta.
However Jarmo Makela, a veteran Finnish political commentator, says that glosses over deep fears in nations which have misplaced territory to Russia up to now. Finland, he famous, had to surrender 12% of its land in a peace cope with Moscow after World Conflict II. “All people may be very anxious at this second,” Makela advised NPR.
Jarmo Makela, Finnish political commentator.
Jarmo Makela, Finnish political commentator./Teri Schultz
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Jarmo Makela, Finnish political commentator./Teri Schultz
That anxiousness is driving three back-to-back, last-minute digital conferences amongst European leaders — together with one convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that may carry collectively Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary Normal Mark Rutte, and leaders from Finland, France, Italy, Poland, the U.Ok., and the EU.
Zelenskyy, chatting with journalists forward of the summit, accused Putin of looking for to dominate Ukraine as a result of “he doesn’t need a sovereign Ukraine.” Forcing Kyiv to simply accept Russia’s demand for management over elements of the Donbas — about 90,000 sq. kilometers — could be harmful, he warned.
Makela fears the result might mirror the 1938 Munich Settlement, when Nazi Germany seized a part of Czechoslovakia with guarantees to not take extra — guarantees later damaged. “The essential feeling is a worry that part of Ukraine is given to Putin with the promise he would not take the remaining. After which, some time later, he took all of it,” he mentioned.
He warns that any U.S.-Russia “land swap” deal — giving Putin the Ukrainian territory his forces at the moment occupy — might set the stage for the Kremlin’s subsequent transfer. “The nations which actually are getting ready themselves for an instantaneous confrontation are the Baltic nations and Poland,” Makela mentioned. “Finland and the Nordic nations, we’re getting ready for the warfare, however we do not anticipate it to happen instantly – (however) we do anticipate it.”
