Trump interrupts talks with European leaders to call Putin: Report

US President Donald Trump briefly halted a high-stakes White House meeting with European leaders on Monday to place a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.

The interruption occurred as Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union, and the secretary-general of NATO.

Bild reported that Trump had initially said the call would take place after the meetings, but he instead picked up the phone mid-summit — underscoring both his improvisational style and the central role he is carving out in efforts to end the war.

“We’ll try to work out a trilateral with the US, Ukraine and Russia,” Trump had told reporters earlier in the day, adding, “Putin really would like to do something.”

The talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders were due to resume after the call. European officials are pushing Trump to secure binding security guarantees for Ukraine, while Zelenskyy has made clear that any peace deal must avoid territorial concessions.

Both Zelenskyy and Trump expressed optimism on Monday that high-stakes White House talks with European leaders could open the door to trilateral negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The hastily convened summit followed Trump’s recent meeting with Putin in Alaska, after which he suggested that the responsibility now rests with Zelenskyy to consider concessions that, in his view, could bring the conflict to an end.

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