European leaders reportedly expressed deep distrust of US-led Ukraine negotiations in a confidential call, fearing a betrayal of Kyiv’s interests.
BERLIN: European leaders voiced deep distrust of US efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine during a confidential conference call this week, according to a report by German news weekly Der Spiegel.
The magazine said it had obtained written notes from the call involving German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It quoted Macron as saying “there is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees”.
The French presidency told Der Spiegel that Macron “did not express himself in these terms” but did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
According to the report, Merz warned Zelensky to be “very careful in the coming days”.
He added that “they are playing games with both you and us”, the magazine reported.
The German chancellery told AFP it could not comment on confidential conversations or individual media reports.
Zelensky’s communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said Ukraine “does not comment on provocations” when asked about the report.
Der Spiegel said Finland’s President Alexander Stubb also expressed distrust of US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“We cannot leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” Stubb was quoted as saying.
His office did not immediately reply to an AFP request for comment.
NATO chief Mark Rutte agreed that “we must protect Volodymyr”, according to the magazine’s notes.
Der Spiegel said Rutte’s office had declined to comment, and AFP has also sought comment from NATO.
The report cited notes, not a verbatim transcript, from the call on Monday.
Two unnamed participants confirmed the notes accurately reflected the conversation’s content but could not confirm quotes word for word.
Washington last month put forward an initial 28-point proposal to halt the war, drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies.
The proposal was criticised as too close a reflection of Moscow’s maximalist demands on Ukrainian territory.
A flurry of diplomacy has followed, with US and Ukrainian negotiators holding talks in Geneva and Florida.
Witkoff and Kushner headed to Moscow for negotiations earlier this week.
