< Can Trump make a deal with Russia? Europe watches closely

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

You're listening to TRUMP'S TERMS from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible.

MIKE JOHNSON: President Trump has brought back strength to the White House.

JD VANCE: We can't just ignore the president's desires.

TRUMP: This will be an entirely different country in a short period of time.

DETROW: Every episode of TRUMP'S TERMS, we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the 47th president, with a focus on actions and policies he is pursuing on his own terms and, in the process, taking the presidency into uncharted territory. Today's story starts right after this.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMANUEL KALLINS AND STEPHEN TELLER'S "ESCAPE MAZE")

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: I'm Ari Shapiro. Friday's summit in Alaska between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin does not include European leaders or the president of Ukraine. So today, Trump and those other leaders met for a virtual summit. NPR Berlin correspondent Rob Schmitz is here to tell us what came out of the meeting. Hey, Rob.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: All right. At the end of this virtual summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine held a press conference. What did they say?

SCHMITZ: So they said that President Trump was in agreement with them that the priority of this meeting with Putin should be to convince him to agree on a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine before any negotiations between Russia and Ukraine begin. They said this is a crucial first step before negotiations about territorial concessions or anything else that would need to be discussed to end this war. Here's what Merz said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FRIEDRICH MERZ: (Speaking German).

SCHMITZ: And, Ari, he's saying here that Trump agreed that the negotiations with Putin need to proceed in the right order - a ceasefire, then negotiations with Ukraine at the table, security guarantees for Ukraine and that any territorial negotiations should start with the current battle lines between Russian and Ukrainian troops - essentially saying here that Russia asking for anything more than that is a nonstarter and that legal recognition of Russian occupation is not up for debate.

SHAPIRO: Separately, President Trump spoke to reporters about the summit. Did it sound like the leaders are all on the same page here?

SCHMITZ: So for the most part, yes, but Trump did say in an answer to a question from a reporter that he did not think he could stop Putin from continuing to hit civilian targets. And that comment would fly in the face of hopes to bring about a ceasefire, obviously. But he still spoke about his hope of having a follow-up trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. almost immediately after the Alaska summit.

SHAPIRO: What kind of territorial concessions is Putin asking for?

SCHMITZ: So as it stands, Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine. That includes Crimea, all of Luhansk, and more than 70% of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Putin wants all of that territory, and he also wants the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from parts of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson that they still control in the east of the country. Putin's territorial demands would mean Ukraine hand over more than 8,000 square miles of its land to Russia. Putin is also demanding that Kyiv would have to officially notify Russia that it's abandoning its plans to join NATO.

SHAPIRO: That all sounds like a hard no from Zelenskyy, who has said...

SCHMITZ: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: ...Territorial concessions to Russia would violate Ukraine's constitution. But did anything out of today's summit suggest that Zelenskyy might consider ceding territory or making other concessions to Russia?

SCHMITZ: So when Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, was talking, he said that Ukraine is prepared to negotiate on territorial issues. But he wanted to make it clear that before any of that starts, Putin must agree on a binding ceasefire, and he also must agree on clear security guarantees for Ukraine - something he obviously has not done since he invaded Ukraine three years ago.

SHAPIRO: What happens if this Alaska summit on Friday doesn't lead to any kind of a ceasefire deal?

SCHMITZ: Yeah, Merz said that if there is no movement from the Russian side at Friday's Alaska summit, then the U.S. and Europe must increase pressure on Russia through massive economic sanctions. And Merz said that President Trump and NATO members are spending billions of dollars to send weapons and aid to help Ukraine.

SHAPIRO: As you've got this Trump-Putin summit taking place on Friday, what role does a country like Germany see for itself in a possible ceasefire or even some kind of eventual peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia?

SCHMITZ: They see themselves as having a pretty large role. I mean, first off, they're demanding that they have a seat at the table when it comes to a peace agreement between the two. And that's because it will be Europe that would have to help not only rebuild Ukraine but also help patrol whatever borders are agreed upon. We're talking about reconstruction, humanitarian aid, military assistance. All of this would help strengthen Ukraine and integrate Ukraine into Europe and quite possibly the European Union at some point. But it's clear from Merz's comments today that European leaders - as part of NATO - have spent billions, you know, to help Ukraine since the war began three years ago, and they've invested quite a bit, and they want to continue to help Ukraine in any postwar scenario.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Rob Schmitz, thanks.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMANUEL KALLINS AND STEPHEN TELLER'S "ESCAPE MAZE")

DETROW: And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR+ supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org.

I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to TRUMP'S TERMS from NPR.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMANUEL KALLINS AND STEPHEN TELLER'S "ESCAPE MAZE")

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.