Paris, 17 August 2025 (dpa/MIA) - On the eve of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, European leaders plan to hold consultations on Sunday in a bid to influence the direction of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to convene a video conference of the so-called Coalition of the Willing at 3 pm (1300 GMT). The coalition is a loose grouping of nations backing Kiev against Russia's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.

The discussions follow Friday's high-profile summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite Trump's warm welcome for the Kremlin leader, the meeting produced no breakthrough on halting the war.

Trump's position on the conflict has swung sharply, at times faulting Ukraine for the invasion while at other moments threatening Moscow with punitive measures if progress toward a ceasefire stalls. On Saturday, he told Fox News that Ukraine needed to make a deal with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they’re not."

European capitals, wary of being sidelined, have been pushing to ensure their views — and Kiev's — are not excluded from the US-Russia dialogue that could shape Europe’s long-term security.

European leaders have urged an immediate ceasefire as a first step toward peace, demanded binding security guarantees for Ukraine, and warned Trump against trusting Putin’s assurances.

Zelensky, who was not invited to the Trump-Putin summit, is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. He has insisted Ukraine must be included in all negotiations about its future, especially territorial questions.

Several media outlets reported after Friday's summit that Putin demanded full control of the occupied eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for a ceasefire.

Trump has often floated the idea of Russia and Ukraine "swapping" territory to end the war. The proposal has alarmed Kiev, which has categorically rejected ceding any of its land to Moscow.

Trump has said he hopes to eventually have a three-way meeting involving Zelensky and Putin.

Starmer posted on X on Saturday: "President Trump's efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine ... While progress has been made, the next steps must be further talks involving President Zelenskyy. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday that he spoke to several of his European counterparts over the weekend to coordinate steps ahead of the leaders' video conference.

Sybiha wrote on X that in order to force Russia to end the war, Europe needed to help strengthen the country's defence capabilities and provide a "deterrence package" to prevent future Russian aggression, which would include security guarantees.

Sybiha also stressed the need to increase sanctions pressure, with the European Commission preparing a 19th package of punitive measures.

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