Germany's Merz says Putin, Zelenskiy to meet within next two weeks

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz credited U.S. President Donald Trump with persuading Russia's President to agree to a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.

This meeting, to which Vladimir Putin agreed during a phone call with Trump, would take place at a yet-to-be-determined location, the German chancellor said.

"We don't know whether the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit. Therefore, persuasion is needed," said Merz, who was part of a delegation of European leaders who travelled to Washington on Monday to lend support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

During a break in the meeting, "the American president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks," he told reporters.

Trump had agreed to extend another invitation to a three-way meeting afterward, so that negotiations could "truly begin", added Merz.

The German chancellor said Trump was impressed that the Europeans had come with a unified front, and their discussions with the U.S. administration would now turn to details on security guarantees for Ukraine.

"It is absolutely clear that the whole of Europe should participate," said Merz, praising Trump's announcement that the United States is also prepared to provide them.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Andreas Rinke, Writing by Miranda Murray)

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