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Confidential Conference on Ukraine Peace "We Must Not Leave Ukraine and Volodymyr Alone with These Guys" DER SPIEGEL has obtained notes from a conference call involving EU leaders - including Germany's Friedrich Merz and France's Emmanuel Macron - showing just how little trust Europe has in Washington. European heads of state and government are apparently deeply distrustful of the U.S. when it comes to peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. According to notes from a conference call obtained by DER SPIEGEL, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron used drastic words in a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other top European politicians to warn that the U.S. could betray Ukraine and Europe. "There is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees," Macron said according to the English language notes of the call that DER SPIEGEL has obtained. There is, he said, "a big danger" for Zelenskyy. Russia's demands for territorial concessions are one of the most delicate points in the negotiations. According to the notes, Merz said Zelenskyy must be "very careful" in the coming days. "They are playing games with both you and us," Merz apparently said, likely in reference to the two U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul, and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who is one of the few Europeans with a good relationship with Trump, also apparently warned against the negotiator duo. "We must not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys," he said at one point in the conversation. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is also well-regarded by Trump, joined the Finn according to the written record. "I agree with Alexander that we need to protect Volodymyr," Rutte said. Source-Der Spiegel