Sawt Falasteen - Zelensky says Putin 'peace' comments not to be trusted

Trump's shock statement that he wanted to begin talks with Putin to end the war stunned Ukraine and European allies -- several of whom questioned his strategy and warned Washington not to hatch a deal without them.

Meeting NATO partners, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied Trump's 90-minute phone call with Putin on Wednesday meant a betrayal of Kyiv's nearly three-year-long war effort.

Zelensky -- who is to meet US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference on Friday -- said it was "not very pleasant" that Trump called Putin before speaking to him.

In a social media post after speaking with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Zelensky "warned world leaders against trusting Putin's claims of readiness to end the war".

The Ukrainian leader said he wanted the United States to agree a "plan to stop Putin" before any negotiations.

The US president said he expected to meet the Russian leader in Saudi Arabia "in the not-too-distant future" -- sparking fears Kyiv would be frozen out of discussions.

But Trump on Thursday insisted Ukraine will be "part of" negotiations and that he was convinced Putin "wants peace".

"I think he would tell me if he didn't," he added.

- 'One way or another' -

The Kremlin said that "one way or another" Kyiv would be involved in the talks, but there would also be a "bilateral Russian-American track".

Ukraine's European backers rejected any move to force a settlement on Kyiv.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected any "dictated peace", arguing that "a Russian victory or a Ukranian collapse will not lead to peace -- on the contrary".

"This would put peace and stability in Europe at risk, far beyond Ukraine," he said.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas insisted that no deal "behind our backs" could work, as she accused Washington of "appeasement" towards Russia.

"We shouldn't take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started because it plays to Russia's court and it is what they want," she said.

"Any quick fix is a dirty deal," she said.

That came after Trump's administration poured cold water on Ukraine's goals of reclaiming all its territory and pushing to join NATO.

Hegseth said Europe must now start providing the "overwhelming share" of aid to Ukraine and that the United States would not deploy troops in any deal.

"There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace," the Pentagon chief said at NATO.

"That will require both sides recognising things they don't want to."

He denied that Trump had given up leverage to Putin, and said that negotiations would involve the Russian leader and Zelensky.

Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov told Kyiv's NATO backers "we're continuing, we're strong, we're capable, we're able, we will deliver".

Zelensky's meeting with Vance in Munich will be the latest in a flurry of high-level European encounters for top Trump officials.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held talks in Kyiv on Wednesday on granting Washington access to Ukraine's rare earth deposits in return for security support.

In a radio interview on Thursday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expected Ukraine to sign a minerals access deal which would repay "the US taxpayer for the billions of dollars that's been spent there".

- Losses in Kursk -

Trump's outreach to Putin had been broadly expected, but the quick pace of his peace push has left heads spinning after three years of staunch Western support for Ukraine.

Trump suggested he would "love" to welcome Russia back into the G7 from which it was suspended in 2014 after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

"I think it was a mistake to throw him out," Trump said, referring to Putin.

Kyiv's European backers fear Trump could force Ukraine into a peace deal that will leave them facing an emboldened Putin -- while paying the lion's share of costs for post-war security.

France's armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu said Paris was worried the "American administration is giving up everything" Russia wanted.

Hegseth said European troops could provide security guarantees for Ukraine under a deal -- and his British counterpart John Healey said planning was "accelerating" on that front.

But Ukraine's grip on Russia's Kursk region has slipped -- with Kyiv saying it now holds barely a third of the area it captured last year.

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST