Trump spoke with top EU leaders including Merz on Saturday morning to debrief them on the high-stakes bilateral summit, which ended without an agreement. Trump has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for more talks on Monday.
Describing the Alaska summit as a meeting of “light and shadow,” Merz stressed as a positive the fact that Trump made no concessions on Ukraine’s national sovereignty and borders. “No territorial concessions before there is a peace treaty,” Merz insisted.
His comments come amid reports that Trump told the European leaders that he now favors Ukraine giving up territory to Russia to end the fighting, something Kyiv has long opposed.
In a separate interview with ZDF that aired earlier on Saturday, Merz welcomed Washington’s willingness to share responsibility for Ukraine’s security.
“The good news is that America is ready to participate in such security guarantees and is not leaving it to the Europeans alone,” Merz said.
But not all in Berlin shared his measured optimism. In an interview with ARD on Saturday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticized Trump’s “almost amicable” attitude toward Putin, while stressing that a ceasefire remained essential for progress in peace talks.
France, Germany and Britain will convene a “Coalition of the Willing” meeting on Sunday afternoon, ahead of Zelenskyy’s Oval Office visit on Monday.
“We’ll give a few good pieces of advice,” Merz told ZDF.