Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders were to hold urgent talks with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv's interests in his looming summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Amid frantic diplomatic activity, Zelensky was to be in Berlin to be with Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the video conference, a German government source told AFP.

Merz has also invited French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders as well as the heads of the EU and NATO to one conference call from 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).

They to hold a second call an hour later with Trump and Vice President JD Vance before Merz and Zelensky give press statements.

The Trump-Putin meeting on Friday in Alaska is so far planned t

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