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Zelensky briefs European leaders on meeting with Trump

European leaders promised to expand their support to Ukraine in order to make Russia engage in serious talks, German Government Spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said

BERLIN, October 18. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, some other European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have held a phone call with Vladimir Zelensky who briefed them on his White House meeting with US President Donald Trump, German Government Spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said.

"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, together with other European heads of state and government, as well as the NATO secretary general and EU institution heads, held a phone call <...> with Vladimir Zelensky tonight," he said, adding that Zelensky had briefed his European partners "on his constructive meeting with US President Donald Trump."

"German Chancellor Merz and other partners welcomed this close transatlantic cooperation and emphasized the urgency of efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine," the German cabinet spokesperson noted.

According to Kornelius, European leaders promised "to expand their support [to Ukraine] in order to make Russia engage in serious talks." "This includes the strengthening of sanctions pressure through the 19th package of the European Union’s sanctions and the use of Russia’s frozen state assets," he observed.

Merz wrote on the X social media platform on Friday that European leaders "coordinated and will accompany the next steps" following Zelensky’s meeting with Trump. "What Ukraine needs now is a peace plan," he added.

Trump met with Zelensky at the White House on Friday. They particularly discussed weapons supplies to Ukraine and the US leader’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

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