Reactions to the Putin-Trump phone call: Zelensky "without us no plan will be complete", Kallas from the EU "an agreement without the European contribution is unthinkable"

Donald Trump's strategy aims to engage directly with both sides in conflict. After the conversation with President Putin, which lasted about 90 minutes, Last night Trump called Zelensky, with whom he spoke for an hour.

«Zelensky, like Putin, also wants to make peace", Trump said on Truth Social, adding that "the conversation went very well". For his part, Zelensky confirmed: "No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the United States, we are mapping out our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure lasting and reliable peace. As President Trump said, let's do it».

The negotiating teams

Trump and Putin have agreed to immediately begin negotiations with their respective diplomatic teams.
The American delegation will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with the support of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Ambassador Steve Witkoff.

Reactions from Kiev and Brussels

In Brussels, in the meantime, a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine was held. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it clear that the United States will not participate in a peacekeeping force and that the Ukrainians should forgo joining NATO and recovering territories lost since 2014.

Zelensky stressed, however, that Trump does not yet have a clear plan to end the conflict and specified that he has asked for broad involvement from Europe. «Without us, no plan will be complete.", the Ukrainian president later declared.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also reiterated that Europe must be involved in the talks: "The The future of the continent is at stake, and an agreement without our contribution is unthinkable».

The role of Europe as a key factor

The point that both Ukrainian and European high-level representatives have been insisting on since yesterday is that Europe, and Ukraine itself, cannot be excluded from the negotiations at all. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: «Ukraine must be at the center of any peace negotiations».

Margarita Robles, Spanish Minister of Defense, recalled that Russia still represents a threat to Europe and He insisted on the need for a just and lasting peace, which cannot ignore consultation with Ukraine.