On Wednesday, August 13, US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky, along with European leaders, held a virtual summit. The timing was just two days before Trump and Russian President Putin were scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting in Alaska.
Zelensky traveled to Berlin on Wednesday to participate in a virtual summit hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, along with European officials and US President Trump. Attendees included EU Commission President von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, and French President Macron.
Merz has recently convened a series of online meetings in an effort to present the views of European and Ukrainian leaders to the public before the dual Putin-Trump summit. German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer stated that the meeting on Wednesday aimed to “clarify the European position.”
Before participating in the virtual summit on Wednesday morning Eastern Time, President Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “I will soon be speaking with European leaders. They are all great people, and I hope to see an agreement reached.”
US Treasury Secretary Benson, in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, stated that “everyone is disappointed in Putin,” but now “it appears he may be ready for negotiations.”
“The President is best at creating leverage for himself, and he will clearly convey to President Putin that all options are on the table,” Benson said. However, the Treasury Secretary also warned that if the Putin-Trump meeting does not proceed as planned, “sanctions or secondary tariffs on Russia may be increased.”
He reiterated that Europe also needs to be willing to impose secondary sanctions on Russia. “We need Europe’s involvement to help us create more leverage,” he explained.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated on Tuesday, August 12, that the Putin-Trump meeting would take place in Anchorage, Alaska.
This will be the first summit between the US and Russia since 2021, where the two sides will discuss efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine. Leavitt tried to downplay expectations surrounding the outcome of the Putin-Trump summit, calling it a “listening exercise” due to only one side engaged in the conflict being present at the meeting.
A White House official told Politico that Trump’s purpose in this action is simply to test Putin, to see if the Russian leader is serious about peace negotiations and to work towards a trilateral meeting including Ukrainian President Zelensky.