Ukraine and maintain Ukraine's and the EU's interest that they can guarantee that we can guarantee our support. We've referred to a number of individual points, made clear that Ukraine must be sitting at the table if in any further meetings, and we want the negotiations to start with a ceasefire. Key elements can be discussed afterwards as part of a framework agreement. And thirdly, Ukraine is prepared to have territorial discussions, but then the contact line must be the point of departure, and illegal recognition of Ukraine's annexed territory cannot be pursued. There must be robust peace agreements for the future. The sovereignty of Ukraine must be something they can defend, and they must be able to count on Western support in the future. Also, negotiations must be part of a transatlantic strategy. Only then is it most likely that we can be successful, and this must be based on strong support for Ukraine and, where necessary, exerting pressure on Russia. So in Alaska, if there's no movement on the Russian side, then the US and we Europeans must step up our pressure on Russia. President Trump is familiar with our position and shares this position largely. So I think we had an extremely constructive and good conversation on the whole. And we wished President Trump every success. And we have arranged that directly after his meeting with President Putin, he will first speak to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and after that the EU heads of state and government who are part of this discussion. We hope there'll be movement. We hope there will be peace in Ukraine. From the European perspective, we are doing everything we can. From a German perspective, I am doing everything I can to use every opportunity on a diplomatic path to find a way to end this terrible war. Thank you.
Thank you, Friedrich. And thank you, Germany, for your invitation. We have been working in a number of formats with the German chancellor. We had a bilateral meeting, and I'm grateful for everything that you have referred to that we've discussed. Thank you, Germany, for your huge contribution to strengthen our state, to strengthen our defense, to strengthen our air defense, and for everything you've done for us since the beginning of the war. We naturally had a conversation with the European leaders, with the US president, and after this press conference, we have another format where we will be discussing the infrastructure of security in Ukraine in the future among the coalition of the willing. I want to thank all of our partners for their support. We spoke with President Trump today, and with Friedrich, with Mark, with Emmanuel, with Ms. Meloni, and all week since Wednesday last week we've essentially been having very intense conversations, and there were many, many discussions that we've had between the various leaders with representatives of other parts of the world as well, who all want peace in Europe, peace in the world. And we have made clear what our positions are that we share with the US. We had a coordination discussion, and we agreed what you've already heard. There were five different points. Friedrich has touched on them, and thank you very much for taking on such a leading role in these negotiations. This is a format for negotiations. So if we're talking about Ukraine, there can be no discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine. We want a ceasefire. We want strong security guarantees. President Trump confirmed this and said he supports this. Russia cannot have a right of veto with reference to our own perspectives in Europe and in NATO, and exerting pressure on Russia and having stronger sanctions are necessary if Russia will not agree to a ceasefire. These are effective principles. And today we also talked about the situation on the front line. I said to the US president and to the other partners as well that this is a bluff on Putin's part. He is trying to break through the front wherever he can. Russia wishes to suggest by doing so that they can occupy all of Ukraine, but this is merely a bluff. Also, Putin wants to suggest that the sanctions aren't working, but that's not true. These sanctions are an enormous help in exerting pressure on Russia and are affecting the military industry there. Naturally, they have three times more military power than we do, but they also have three times more military losses than we do. And I said to the US president and to our colleagues, Putin does not want peace. He wants to occupy all of Ukraine. And we understand very clearly what he wants. He's not going to be able to trick anyone. What we need is to exert pressure in order to achieve peace, sanctions, and our coalition of the willing. All of our partners can help stop war against Ukraine. We spoke about the meeting in Alaska, and we very much hope that a ceasefire will emerge from it, an immediate ceasefire, an unconditional ceasefire. Mr. Trump suggested that he will call me after the meeting and that we will discuss the results, should there be results from this discussion, and that we can then discuss the next steps. Now we are going to have a meeting of the coalition of the willing. That is our aim. We are pursuing it around the clock. Thank you very much, and Slava Ukraini.
And if you're just joining us, we're finishing up a press conference, or at least press statements by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukraine's President Zelensky. Looks like they're going to take some questions, I'm told. So maybe we can tune in and catch some of that, although perhaps not. With me in the studio is our political correspondent, Simon Young. He's been following this with us. Looks like we're going back to the press conference now, where questions are indeed being taken. Let's see if we can listen into that.
Can I begin? Thank you. These are questions that cannot be discussed. Now we have to bear in mind the people, and we have to bear in mind our constitution. President Trump has made this one of his priorities in his conversation with President Putin on Friday, and I'm very much hoping that this will lead to an agreement, because so far all of the discussions that have been held with President Putin in the last three and a half years have gone hand in hand with even harder military aims. And this cannot continue, otherwise these discussions are simply not credible. And I'm hoping that Mr. Trump will try to assert this.
Chancellor, I have a question with you in connection with the security guarantees. Have I understood you correctly that President Trump has said he would ensure security guarantees for Ukraine, and are the Europeans prepared to continue? And a question to President Zelensky as well in connection with the land swaps. Under which conditions would you even be able to talk about ceding land to Putin? Can we say that Friday's meeting may be a historic meeting, or do you think it's just one of many?
By the way, just to respond briefly to security guarantees, we are well aware of the fact that Ukraine needs security guarantees. And that's why in my initial statement, I referred to the fact that we will continue to strengthen the Ukrainian army so that they can defend their country. What this may look like from state to state was not something we discussed today, but of course this will continue as soon as we talk about a path to peace.
Well, you know, when we're talking about success of any negotiations, it depends first and foremost on the results. I mean, certainly in the discussions that we've had, I think we all agree, and we are working in lockstep to work together. There's the same principle, the same attitude among all of us. That in itself is a step in the right direction. But with reference to whether it's a historic meeting or not, I wouldn't want to go that far yet. It's an important meeting, I think that's right. But in terms of our territorial integrity, well, this is something that will be decided by the Ukrainians, and there can be no decision about Ukraine without Ukraine.
So that was Vladimir Putin. Excuse me. Of course, that was Volodymyr Zelensky talking about the meeting with Vladimir Putin that's about to take place this week on Friday, a meeting with US President Donald Trump. And we also heard, of course, just before Zelensky there at the end, we heard Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz commenting on the discussions that are being held today with Germany and Ukraine's European partners and also with the US president. There is a telephone call taking place there. Our political correspondent, Simon Young, is with me here in the studio. He was listening to all of that as well. Simon, what did you make of what you just heard?
