Europe Ends Trump-Whispering as Leaders Prepare Direct Putin Talks

The relationship between the United States, Ukraine, and Europe has entered a new and more volatile phase, marked by the apparent collapse of the strategy European leaders had relied on for months. The crisis echoes the darkest days of 2025, when the televised Oval Office confrontation between Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy crystallized fears that Washington was now siding with Moscow. Those worries flared again with the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. But this time, the European response is different, and the bloc’s leaders are preparing to talk directly to Vladimir Putin.

Previously, European leaders responded to these crises with determined Trump-whispering. They embraced Zelenskyy and coached him on how to sound grateful and conciliatory in his dealings with the US president, while deluging Trump with phone calls and flattery to take the roughest edges off US policy. That approach is now being abandoned. Zelenskyy is far less restrained in his remarks about Trump, directly accusing the US of throttling satellite services in Ukraine and suggesting that Trump is attracted to autocrats. The Ukrainians have also defied a US demand to stop hitting Russian energy facilities, with some of the biggest strikes yet on oil installations in St Petersburg occurring over the weekend.

Zelenskyy’s outspoken shift is likely driven by anger and exasperation, but calculation also appears to be at play. With Trump weakening in the polls and Republicans apparently heading for defeat in the midterm elections, appealing directly to Americans over the heads of the president and his inner circle may prove effective. Even some Republican candidates on the campaign trail have questioned Trump’s plan to buy Russian diesel, and polling suggests Americans do not share Trump’s admiration for Putin.

A parallel shift is under way in Europe’s approach to Russia. A growing consensus in European capitals holds that the continent’s leaders can no longer tolerate a situation in which only the Americans are talking to Putin. Channels with the Russians are already open, and a call between European leaders and Putin may happen soon. The change reflects a belief that Trump-whispering is increasingly ineffective, particularly given the president’s preoccupation with the midterms and his anger at what he regards as Europe’s failure to help him in Iran. The Europeans also fear that US policy is largely driven by a desire for business deals with Russia rather than a coherent security vision.

Europe’s own approach currently rests on two props: support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. Both are regarded as crucial, especially as US support for Ukraine weakens. But direct European involvement in peacemaking is increasingly seen as a necessity, particularly since European money is keeping Ukraine afloat following the cut-off in US financial aid. The Europeans appear confident that Putin will be willing to talk, but the Russian leader is believed to be floating the idea of a three-way summit with Trump and Xi Jinping of China. Such a summit would play to Russia’s great-power pretensions and would keep Ukraine and its most important supporters out of the room.

Russian wariness about engaging with the Europeans may also be heightened by the substance of the proposals that could be put on the table. If and when European talks with Putin take place, the Russian leader is likely to be presented with two possible paths to peace. The first is to freeze the conflict on the current line of control, in return for a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. The second would be for Ukraine to cede the rest of the Donbas to Russia but then join NATO. Both choices would be regarded as a betrayal by some in Ukraine, though given the strong desire for peace in the country, Zelenskyy might be able to sell either idea. The Europeans, however, are much less confident that Putin is ready to accept either.

The coming weeks will test whether direct engagement with Moscow can produce what months of transatlantic pressure could not. The shift away from Trump-whispering is a recognition that Europe must now act as a principal rather than a supplicant. Whether Putin is willing to treat it as one remains an open question.