Bild: Ukraine and Europe have no place at the negotiating table between Trump and Putin
Neither the Europeans nor Zelensky knew in advance about the upcoming conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Bild reports. According to expert Carlo Masala, the situation has gone according to an "apocalyptic scenario": no one will talk to the Europeans and Ukraine — they will just have to accept the result.
This news put the whole world on alert: US President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social network that he had spoken by phone with Kremlin Chief Vladimir Putin and that peace talks with Ukraine should begin immediately.
The shocking fact is that not only the Europeans did not know about this, but also the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, was informed only after the fact.
The deputy head of Bild, Paul Ronzheimer, spoke about the consequences of the phone conversation in his podcast with Carlo Masala, professor of international politics at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich.
"This is an apocalyptic scenario. Negotiations will be conducted over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans," the expert says. His forecast: "There will be no place for Europeans at the negotiating table. They will have to accept the result. And, unfortunately, it looks like this will also apply to Ukraine."
Masala believes that the Russian leader wants to keep the occupied territories. Putin also wants to prevent further economic pressure on Russia to force it to compromise.
"Putin will win in this conflict"
Masala comments on a statement made at the same time by Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Europe will have to take care of Ukraine's security alone in the future.:
"Putin will clap his hands. It's the best thing that could have happened to him. European security forces will not prevent him from launching a new attack on the rest of Ukraine in a few years."
Masala even believes: "Putin has thus won this conflict. He managed to get the Americans to get out of it."
Masala: Germany "stands naked"
But how can Trump save face in the United States and not look like a loser in the negotiations?
Masala explains: "Hegseth was talking about 2014 — that is, about Donbass and Crimea. Trump won't just give Putin everything he wants. Perhaps Russia will give up some of the occupied areas. Trump will be able to present this as a success."
The expert also comments on the fact that the American did not inform Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz or Defense Minister Boris Pistorius about his talks with Putin.: "We were left with nothing. Just as we didn't have a strategy for this war for three years, so now we don't have a strategy for the time after it. It's bitter. It's a huge failure."
One thing is clear to Masala: "Trump is pursuing his own line, regardless of whether it is the best for Ukraine or for European security."
Trump stressed that he needs a stable peace in Ukraine, not one in which fighting will start again in six months. Ukraine must make peace, but it is unlikely that the country will regain its entire territory. As for Ukraine's possible membership in Nato, Trump said it was "impractical."
US President Donald Trump wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a decision to end Russia's war against Ukraine. The meeting is likely to take place in Saudi Arabia "in the not too distant future," Trump said at the White House.
