European leaders are reacting to the aftermath of the Trump-Putin summit with concern.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Meanwhile, European leaders are watching the aftermath of the summit with concern. Teri Schultz has more from Brussels.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: European leaders are relieved that while the summit doesn’t seem to have pressured Russian President Vladimir Putin further toward ending his war on Ukraine, neither did he leave Alaska with U.S. backing for keeping the territory he’s invaded and occupied. Jessica Berlin with the Center for European Policy Analysis says that’s hardly cause for celebration.
CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS JESSICA BERLIN: The fact that Ukraine’s allies are viewing it as a win that Trump didn’t concede Ukrainian territory on Ukraine’s behalf in a bilateral meeting with Putin tells you just how very low the bar is set. This summit was a victory through and through for Putin.
SCHULTZ: After the meeting, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a handful of European leaders and the secretary general of NATO to brief them. In a statement, the Europeans said they welcomed the U.S. president’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia’s war of aggression and achieve just and lasting peace. These European leaders believed they had convinced Trump last week of the necessity of a ceasefire and released a statement then saying, meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities.
But now that Trump has come out in favor of a full peace agreement rather than a ceasefire first, Jan Balliauw, with the Belgian think tank the Egmont Institute, says continuing the fighting would give Russians more leverage in negotiations.
JAN BALLIAUW: Up till now, it was really the priority of Europeans and of the Ukrainians to first have a ceasefire and then peace negotiations. And apparently, Trump agreed with it after the talks he had with the Europeans and Zelenskyy on Wednesday. And now apparently, he’s shifted to the Russian logic (ph) which is first negotiations and then an end to the fighting.
SCHULTZ: But it may not just be the U.S. leader who changed his mind. This statement from the several European leaders after this phone call with Trump, unlike last week’s – which was the same group – does not mention a ceasefire at all. Such nuances are not lost on the countries along the front line with Russia. Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Estonian Parliament, says Putin should not have had this photo op on U.S. territory without, Mihkelson presumed, any intention of pursuing peace.
MARKO MIHKELSON: Putin’s goal, most likely, was to come to America, to be treated with a red carpet. And we saw how he, as a wanted war criminal, murderer and the person who still carrying out, as the leader of Russia, the war against Ukraine and basically against the West as well. So he got what he wanted – to be legitimized.
SCHULTZ: It’s not a comfortable development for countries dependent on the U.S. as their ultimate security backstop. Likewise, Mihkelson noted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov showing up in a T-shirt reading U.S.S.R., to which Estonia was forcibly annexed in 1940.
MIHKELSON: This is really very important if you, you know, understand Russians. This is the signal that we are here to define the future.
SCHULTZ: Mihkelson says the signal he didn’t get from the summit was that the U.S. is ready to put more pressure on Putin. But he said he’d love to be wrong about that and is looking forward to next week’s meetings with Trump, Zelenskyy and likely some European leaders to get more answers. For NPR News, I’m Teri Schultz in Brussels.
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