Trump, European leader clashes on a key peace stage at the top of Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz broke with the generally optimistic tone of European leaders during their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump on Monday, declaring that peace talks could not continue constantly.

This follows Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and a meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday.

Merz, who has been in office since May, has launched a passionate appeal to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, although Trump has repeatedly expressed his conviction that a cease-fire is not necessary to achieve permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Merz thanked the president for organizing the meeting at the White House, the caller “extremely useful”.

However, he said that “the next steps to come is the most complicated”.

Trump: Zelenskyy does not meet “end of the road” for American support to conclude a peace agreement

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz broke with the generally optimistic tone of European leaders during their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump on Monday, declaring that peace talks could not continue constantly. (Getty Images)

“Now, the path is open. You opened it last Friday, but now the path is open to complicated negotiations,” he said, adding, “and to be honest, we would all like to see a cease-fire at the latest in the next meeting.”

“I cannot imagine that the next meeting would be constantly taking place,” he continued. “So let’s work on this.”

He urged managers to put pressure on Russia to accept a cease-fire, saying: “Let us try to put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of this effort, these efforts that we are undertaking today depends, at least, a cease-fire since the start of the serious negotiations of the next step.

In response, Trump, who said he was determined “to go directly to a peace agreement” constantly, said: “Well, we will let the president (Zelenskyy) go talk to the president (Putin), and we will see how it works.”

“ Our position is clear: ” Zelenskyy and the EU reject the famous Ukrainian lands in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is greeted by President Donald Trump when he arrived at the western wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump highlighted his recent successes to help negotiate peace agreements between other countries constantly.

“I will say, and again, I say, in the six wars that I settled, I did not have a cease-fire,” he said. “We have just made negotiations and … One of the wars was, as you know, in Congo, was 30 years old, 31 years old. Another that we settled last week was two major countries, was 35 years and we did not have a cease-fire.”

“So, if we can make the ceasefire, great. And, if we do not make the ceasefire because many other points have been given to us, a lot, many points have been given to us. Large points,” he added.

President Trump boasts the media of “great wars” does not cover

US President Donald Trump welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Tarmac after their arrival at the Elmendorf-Richardson joint base in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images)

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Trump previously said that if his meeting with Zelenskyy had gone well, they will work to plan a trilateral meeting with Putin, probably to obtain a finalized and signed peace agreement.

Rachel Wolf of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.