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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday urged President Donald Trump not to spring any surprises during expected talks on Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China next week, warning that Europe must be consulted before any agreement on Ukraine's future.
Speaking in Dublin, where European Union leaders gathered for an informal European Council after Thursday's meeting of the European Political Community, Merz said some in the Irish capital already feared a repeat of the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage, Alaska, which European leaders had viewed as a potentially pivotal moment in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
"Some here in Dublin fear this could turn into a 'second Anchorage moment'," Merz said. "I therefore want to state our message to the United States very clearly: please, no surprises. Continue to play as part of 'Team Europe' and 'Team Ukraine'."
The warning comes after meetings between American and Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi this week. Merz said substantive peace negotiations were expected to begin in the coming weeks, with European participation for the first time.
Merz also rejected Russia's calls to place Europe's security architecture at the centre of the talks, arguing that framework already exists in the form of NATO. "The upcoming discussions must focus on one central question: within what framework can Ukraine's security be guaranteed once peace is achieved? First, however, we must actually reach that peace," he said.
The German chancellor is pushing EU leaders to commit to supporting Ukraine as part of negotiations on the bloc's long-term budget. He said the proposal had received broad backing, although an agreement remained a long way off.
The expected talks follow months of American-led diplomacy. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Putin proposed a summit with Trump and China's Xi Jinping, raising the idea on his October 9 call with Trump, with the Kremlin eyeing the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18-19. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed the idea has been discussed but not decided, and that Trump has not committed. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21, after which the Kremlin agreed in principle to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 10.
Merz has also said he would not shy away from talking with Putin if the Russian leader attends the G20 gathering in Miami.