Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived on Wednesday in Berlin for a virtual summit with European officials and United States President Donald Trump, convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, writes Al Jazeera.

“The call was meant to bring European leaders together with Trump before the planned August 15 Alaska meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those on the call included Merz and the US president, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, among others.

Chancellor Merz and President Zelenskyy then delivered joint statements, followed by a separate address from Trump at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Merz said that European and Ukrainian security interests must be respected at Friday’s Alaska summit. He underlined the importance of Ukraine having a seat at the table in any peace discussions, with a ceasefire as the essential first step: “We have made it clear that Ukraine will be at the table as soon as there is a follow-up meeting… President Trump wants to make a ceasefire a priority.

Any territorial exchange in Ukraine must only be discussed with Ukraine, French President Macron told reporters in Bregancon, France, following the call: “Trump was very clear on the fact that the US wants to obtain a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska. We must continue to support Ukraine, and when I say ‘we’, I mean Europeans and Americans”.

Ukraine needs credible security guarantees as part of any peace deal, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Starmer said following the virtual summit. The United Kingdom’s support for Ukraine is “unwavering”, he added.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the news conference with Merz, said Putin is “bluffing” about being interested in peace: “Russia is attempting to portray itself as capable of occupying all of Ukraine. That is undoubtedly what they want. Talks about us, without us, will not work. Everything concerning Ukraine must be discussed exclusively with Ukraine. We must prepare a trilateral format for talks. There must be a ceasefire… There must be security guarantees – truly reliable ones… Russia must not be allowed to block Ukraine’s path to joining the European Union or NATO, and that peace talks should go hand in hand with maintaining pressure on Russia… Sanctions should be strengthened if Russia fails to agree to a ceasefire during the Alaska summit. These are effective principles. It is important that they work”.

“We had a very good call. I would rate it a 10, very friendly. There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first. Because the first is: I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing… I plan to call Zelenskyy and other European leaders after Friday’s discussions with Putin. There will be very severe consequences for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to end the war after Friday’s meeting… I want to end the war. It’s Biden’s war, but I want to end it. I’ll be very proud to end this war, along with the 5 other wars I ended”, - said Donald Trump”.