The Japan Times - European leaders seek united front with Trump on Ukraine

As the talks concluded in Istanbul, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland -- together with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky -- called Trump from the sidelines of a summit in Albania, to debrief him and plan their next steps.

The call involved Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk, the same group that travelled last week to Kyiv in a show of support, when they also made a call to align their positions with Trump.

Moscow has consistently rebuffed calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

It is "unacceptable that Russia and President (Vladimir) Putin have not responded, for a second time, to the demands made by the Americans, supported by Ukraine and the Europeans," Macron told reporters after the call.

"We continue to fight for peace, we continue to stand by President Zelensky and coordinate very closely with the United States," added Macron.

He said European nations were coordinating with Washington on additional sanctions should Russia continue to refuse a ceasefire.

Macron said they would be exchanging again with Trump once the Ukrainian side receives a response to the "demands put to the Russian delegation", which he expected "in the coming hours".

Starmer likewise told reporters the Europeans and Trump "are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses and will continue to do so".

He and Tusk, like Macron, described the Russian stance as "unacceptable", while Merz declared himself "very disappointed" in the outcome from Friday's talks -- which Putin shunned, sending a second-level delegation instead.

"The message was clear. The Russian side had not shown any goodwill," said the Polish leader.

"We will continue to work together," Tusk said, underscoring that the "main task is to maintain full unity between our European and American partners on the Ukrainian issue".

- 'Constantly informed' -

The Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed in Istanbul on a prisoner exchange, said they would trade ideas on a possible ceasefire and discussed a potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin -- but there were few signs of more significant progress toward ending the three-year war.

Kyiv was seeking an "unconditional ceasefire" to pause a conflict that has destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.

"The ball was entirely in Russia's court," said Merz, who said "all the conditions were met for a good initial dialogue" but slammed "Russia's unwillingness to take the first steps in the right direction".

A spokesperson for Zelensky had separately announced the call with Trump, which came after the Ukrainian leader urged a "strong reaction" from the West should the talks fail.

Having vowed before his re-election to halt the conflict within days, Trump was until recently threatening to walk away from peace efforts over the lack of progress.

But in recent weeks the US leader has voiced mounting frustration with Russia, while Washington has re-engaged with the Ukrainian side, including striking a long-awaited minerals deal that Kyiv hopes will pave the way for future military support.

European partners have made plain they hope to cement the apparent pivot by Washington.

Merz said the European side had agreed with Zelensky to continue working to establish a "dialogue" between Kyiv and Moscow and would keep Trump "constantly informed" on their progress.

"It must also be clear that we stand together," he said. "We will not give up, we will continue and we will coordinate well on the European side together with the Americans."

"We are determined to continue to help Ukraine so that this terrible war comes to an end," Merz added.

T.Shimizu--JT