European leaders have privately raised serious doubts about US-led efforts to broker an end to the Russia–Ukraine war, according to a leaked account of a high-level call reported by Der Spiegel and cited by AFP. The leak suggests that trust inside the Western alliance is eroding as Washington conducts back-channel negotiations with Moscow without including key European governments.
The documents reportedly came from a conference call held on Monday between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European heads of state. During the conversation, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron allegedly voiced concern that the United States may be prepared to compromise on Ukrainian territory to secure a deal with Russia.
According to Der Spiegel, Macron warned that “there is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees.” The Élysée Palace told AFP that the quotation didn’t match its own record of the call, but maintained that Macron’s public and private positions are aligned. Merz, meanwhile, was quoted as advising Zelenskyy to exercise extreme caution, saying that “the Americans are playing games with both you and us.” The German government declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the dialogue.
Zelenskyy’s spokesperson Dmytro Lytvyn dismissed the leak, refusing to respond to what he called a provocation. However, the leaked notes also pointed to alarm among other European states over the role of former US President Donald Trump’s envoys — businessman Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — who travelled to Moscow for talks with the Kremlin in recent days.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb reportedly told participants, “We cannot leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys.” His office declined to comment. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was quoted as urging European leaders to “protect Volodymyr.” NATO, while not disputing the report, said it does not comment on leaks and reiterated that Rutte supports Trump-led diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Washington recently circulated a 28-point ceasefire plan that was drafted without European involvement, prompting criticism that the proposal too closely reflects Russia’s territorial demands. These developments were followed by two rounds of US-Ukraine talks in Geneva and Florida, and then by the Trump team’s Moscow visit — escalating European anxiety that negotiations are moving forward without them.
Two participants in the call told Der Spiegel that the leaked notes accurately captured the broad substance of what was discussed, though they clarified that the document was not a verbatim transcript.
