European leaders intensify efforts to end Ukraine war

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany held a call on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump to discuss Washington’s latest peace efforts to end the war in Ukraine, in what they said was “a critical moment” in the process.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Trump by phone on Wednesday, according to officials.

Negotiations are at “a critical moment,” the European leaders said in official statements.

Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favourable to Moscow.

Macron, arriving late for a public debate in western France, said he had just held a 40-minute discussion with Trump and his European colleagues to see how to move forward on “a subject that concerns all of us.”

Separate statements from the so-called E3 powers said the leaders had commended the Trump administration’s mediation efforts to achieve a robust and lasting peace in Ukraine, nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

“(The leaders) agreed that this is a critical moment for Ukraine, for its people and for the common security of the Euro-Atlantic region,” the British readout said.

Ukraine was expected to give its latest peace proposals to US negotiators on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to compromise, even as Moscow shows no public sign of budging from its demands.

Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks, as well as accommodating Europe’s defense interests.

The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelenskyy said it would include those countries’ leaders.

“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late on Tuesday.

Zelensky said discussions with the US were scheduled later Wednesday to focus on a document detailing plans for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and economic d onevelopment.

Also, Ukraine is finalising work on a separate, 20-point framework for ending the war. Zelensky said Kyiv expects to submit that document to Washington soon.

After Trump called for a presidential election in Ukraine, Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.

Zelensky’s openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy said late on Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but needs help from the US and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.

“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelensky said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were fending off an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s military said on Wednesday.

“The Russians used armoured vehicles, cars, and motorcycles. The convoys attempted to break through from the south to the northern part of the city,” Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said in a statement on Wednesday morning’s assault.

Agencies