Europe reels as Trump warns Zelenskyy that Putin ‘will destroy you’

Good morning. Donald Trump has warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he must accept Vladimir Putin’s peace demands or “he will destroy you,” we revealed yesterday. During a hostile White House meeting on Friday marked by shouting and expletives, the US President repeated Kremlin talking points and tossed aside maps of Ukraine, saying he was “sick” of seeing the frontline.

Today, I explain how that grim news, which cascaded through European capitals over the weekend, has increased the pressure on an already crucial week of diplomatic talks regarding support for Kyiv, while Paola reports on how yesterday’s election in Northern Cyprus might result in progress towards a resolution for the divided island.

I’m travelling for the next fortnight, so Laura will be running the show in the meantime.

Wake-up call

Trump’s decision to strongly push Putin’s maximalist peace demands at a White House meeting with Zelenskyy last Friday has dashed European hopes that the US president was shifting his position towards Ukraine, and heaped pressure on Kyiv’s continental allies to increase support to the country.

Context: Trump returned to power vowing to swiftly end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022. Putin has refused to engage in bilateral peace negotiations, intensified his bombing campaign and demanded control over vast swaths of the country.

Friday’s tense White House meeting was followed by Zelenskyy debriefing a handful of senior European leaders on the outcome. That has reshaped the focus of today’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and a gathering of the “coalition of the willing” in support of Ukraine on Friday.

This week’s meetings will feature talks on how to co-ordinate a European response to Trump’s stance, increase support to Ukraine including a potential loan based on immobilised Russian assets, and prepare for a mooted Trump-Putin summit in Budapest in the coming weeks.

Senior European officials will spend the next few days “working overtime” on contingency plans for Ukraine, one official briefed on the discussions told the Financial Times, adding that European governments were “not optimistic but pragmatic with planning next steps”.

Officials said that the tone, content and outcome of the White House meeting had made stark that the US was not going to come to Ukraine’s rescue, as some European leaders had begun to hope in response to Trump’s signals of frustration at Putin in recent months.

It was no longer realistic to expect “strategic shifts” in favour of Ukraine from Trump, said a second official, adding that even small diplomatic victories for Kyiv were “extremely hard to lock in”.

Instead, Trump’s rant had made clear that European countries who are still not providing enough military or financial support to Ukraine needed to rapidly change that, and nascent plans by the “coalition” to agree concrete postwar security guarantees to Kyiv were long overdue.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was on the debrief call with Zelenskyy on Friday, said in summation: “One thing is absolutely clear: Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s aggression is today more important than ever before.”

Chart du jour: Easing off

After a pandemic boom, Chinese investment in new projects in the EU is slowing, as trade tensions, geopolitical strains and Europe’s soft electric car market reduce appetite.

Olive branch

Northern Cypriots yesterday elected a new leader on a platform for change and dialogue, injecting hope for the resumption of peace talks on the divided island, writes Paola Tamma.

Context: Cyprus has been split since 1974 between the Republic of Cyprus in the south — an EU member — and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey.

The election could prove consequential: The two top contenders campaigned on starkly different visions for the north.

Centre-left Tufan Erhürman supports UN‑mediated reunification into a federation, an option backed by the EU. Rightwing incumbent Ersin Tatar backed a two‑state settlement — rejected by Greek Cypriots — and deeper alignment with Ankara.

Erhürman had won over 60 per cent with more than three-quarters of the vote counted. The result is a boost for Brussels and a blow for Turkey, which had backed Tatar.

While hopes of renewed talks are rising, observers say it won’t be easy. Erhürman has set preconditions for negotiations, including timelines and a new approach if talks fail again.

“I don’t think there will be formal negotiation any time soon,” said Ahmet Sözen, professor of international relations at Eastern Mediterranean University.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides welcomed the results.

Still, Erhürman’s room for manoeuvre remains unclear, given the north’s economic dependence on Turkey.

“Cyprus is an appetiser on a much bigger table,” Sözen said. “Turkey won’t shift on Cyprus unless it gets something bigger in return.”

What to watch today

1. EU foreign affairs ministers meet in Luxembourg.

2. EU energy ministers meet in Luxembourg.

3. European parliament plenary session begins in Strasbourg.

Now read these