Europe rallies behind Zelensky's bold peace offer to Putin

DPAFri, June 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM UTC1 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.Key takeawaysPowered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

• European politicians are planning to hold a summit with Ukrainian President Zelensky following his offer of direct peace talks with Russian President Putin, with close coordination between France, the UK, and Germany.
• French President Macron believes that Ukraine and Russia can work out a ceasefire and peace plan, with European support, and that Europeans should have a seat at the table in talks on a peace plan due to the geographical implications for Europe.
• Zelensky offered Putin direct peace talks in a country other than Russia or Ukraine after the Kremlin renewed its offer of negotiations in Moscow and demanded full control of Ukraine's Donbass region as a precondition for peace, which Zelensky has rejected.

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Leading European politicians are set to hold a summit with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming days, following his offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin of direct peace talks, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro, Macron said there was close coordination between France, the UK and Germany, and that they would meet Zelensky in a few days.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron last spoke about two weeks ago in a video conference.

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Regarding Zelensky's letter to Putin, Macron said: "I believe that today it is Ukraine and Russia that can work out both a ceasefire and a peace plan." The Europeans could help, he said, as they were by far Ukraine's most important supporters.

He added that the Europeans would also need to have a seat at the table at a certain point in the talks on a peace plan, given that - due to the geographical situation - it concerned a peace and security architecture for Europe. "That is why I consider this a good initiative," he said.

Zelensky offered Putin peace talks on Thursday in an open letter. In response, the Kremlin so far only renewed its offer of negotiations in Moscow and its demand for full control of Ukraine's Donbass region as a precondition for peace, proposals Zelensky has rejected on multiple previous occasions.

Against the backdrop of stalling US mediation efforts, Zelensky offered Putin direct peace talks in a country other than Russia or Ukraine to discuss "key issues" in person.