BERLIN, March 18. /TASS/. European leaders are "shivering" ahead of another telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Donald Trump of the United States because its outcome could have a "devastating" effect on the subcontinent’s security, Germany’s Bild newspaper reports.
"On Tuesday evening, Presidents Putin and Trump will discuss Ukraine’s future and possibly Europe’s future as well, and the impact on the security of our continent could be catastrophic. This is why the mood is tense in European capitals, yet also euphoric," the paper writes.
The Kiev authorities are concerned that Trump could agree to cede some territories that Russian troops have not yet taken over to Moscow. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland fear a pullback of US troops from Europe and "a potential Russian invasion within the next few years." In this context, these nations have declared in recent weeks that they are ready to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
Paris and London are preparing for the worst-case scenario, the newspaper notes. This is why their plans to send peacekeepers to Ukraine against Moscow’s wishes "are increasingly becoming more concrete." "If Trump throws Ukraine under the train, then influential EU countries will intervene, which will cause a standoff between Washington and Moscow," Bild concludes.
Putin and Trump are expected to have a phone call later on Tuesday. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that preparations for the conversation were underway. The Kremlin emphasized that talking points would be prepared on all key issues, primarily the Ukrainian settlement. Trump, for his part, told reporters that he intended to focus on territorial and infrastructural aspects of the Ukraine conflict.