Donald Trump meets Putin: hope and fear in Berlin

How will these two men meet? Frost, friendly, even facing each other? It is a sensation that they do it to face for the first time in more than four years.

When Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the American and the Russian President, in Alaska (9.30 p.m. CEST, A this FridayYou can find information about the Trump Putin summit in our newsblog) Completion, every smallest detail of your encounter should be interpreted. Looking for clues what these two men could put out. In the worst case, over the heads of Ukraine and Europe.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s hurried summit marathon on Wednesday was an expression of it and should prevent that worst-case scenario from a kind of dictation peace. Numerous heads of state and government from the European Union and NATO sent the clear message to Washington by video counters that they want to have a say in possible peace negotiations. Wolodymyr Selenskyj, the Ukrainian president, even personally traveled to Berlin to underline the demonstrated unity.

The only question is whether Donald Trump is also impressed by it. The US President often acts erratically, sends different signals, changes his opinion from a mood. And so you do no illusions in political Berlin, where, after the diplomatism offensive, at least a touch of hope is in the air.

“What will follow from the summit is still unclear a few hours before the start,” said SPD foreign politician Rolf Mützenich the star. He warns that a new, critical phase of the war could very soon occur, because in Anchorage in southern Alaska “two men come together, each of which, each in their own way, is unpredictable and unscrupulous”.

In the past few days, the leap, typical for Trump, has come to light several times. At the beginning of the week, the US President openly suggested the possibility of a regional exchange between Russia and Ukraine, even spoke of land changes. This fueled the concern that Trump could create facts on his own and have the former KGB agent Putin lulled. “I won’t do a deal,” said Trump shortly afterwards and shoved afterwards that he wanted “the best deal for both sides”.

After the phone call with the Europeans, Trump explained to journalists that he was expecting a meeting with the Russian and the Ukrainian president after Friday. Trump also threatened Russia painful sanctions, should Putin show no will in anchorage. That was another pitch.

Government circles said on Wednesday evening that the talks with the Americans were “very constructive” and they would not want to negotiate without Ukraine and without Europe. The impression on the German side after days for days, intensive preliminary talks with the Americans: the red lines of Europeans and Ukrainians, have arrived in Washington. Careful optimism.

But even if a dictation peace may be averted, at least seems less likely: a solution is not yet emerging, not even after the Selensykj lightning visit in Berlin. Rolf Mützenich, the former SPD parliamentary group leader, also refers to the existing uncertainties. “Neither a continuation of the Russian attacks, perhaps even in an even greater intensity, is excluded, nor a further destabilization of the international order,” said Mützenich.

Chancellor Merz had emphasized after a joint appearance with President Selenskyj in front of journalists that so far all the conversations that had been held with Putin in the past three and a half years “have been accompanied every time with an even harder military answer”. This time it has to be different, he said. President Selenskyj spoke of a “bluff” of Putin. Both pleaded for increased pressure on Russia.

Against this background, SPD man Mützenich, who has received her doctorate on nuclear weapons-free zones and committed himself to peace policy. It is “good and correct that some European governments together with President Selenskyj have formulated expectations that could lead to a resilient path, how an end to the fights can be achieved”. However, this should not hide the fact that the latest European initiative “from strength and diplomacy comes very late, if not too late”.

What’s next? Trump again promised a meeting between Selenskyj and Putin. If the two wished this, he could also take part in it himself. However, he initially wanted to wait and see how his summit with Putin is – because it also could not lead to another meeting.

At the summit in Alaska, Trump first wants to clarify the framework conditions. At the same time, he admitted that he was probably unable to prevent Putin from further attacks on Ukraine.

“Regardless of the actual topic, a phase could begin with the summit, in which great powers are talking about spheres of interest again,” warned SPD politician Mützenich. The CDU foreign politician Johannes Volkmann emphasized im star: “It is important that decisions are not made across the heads of the Ukrainians, but the country can freely decide on its future.”