By Thomas Escritt and Sarah Marsh
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said European leaders had laid out terms for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would protect their security interests in a call on Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump.
European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held the call with Trump in a bid to influence his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2021.
"We have made it clear that Ukraine must be at the table as soon as follow-up meetings take place," Merz said in at the joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
"We want negotiations to proceed in the right order, with a ceasefire at the outset."
Merz, who initiated the meeting with Tru