European stocks flat ahead of Trump-Ukraine talks

August 18, 2025 (MLN): European stocks opened in mixed territory on Monday as traders looked ahead to a meeting between regional leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss Ukraine.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was flat 20 minutes after the opening bell, with no consensus movement seen among sectors and major regional bourses, as CNBC reported.

European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are traveling with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington to meet Trump at the White House to discuss a peace deal.

Zelenskyy is likely to come under pressure to enter a deal.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Ukrainian president could “end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”

The meeting follows Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday, but the talks concluded without a ceasefire.

It has been widely reported since then that Putin told Trump he would agree to one if Russia was handed Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

On Sunday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff suggested Ukraine could be given some security guarantees to bring an end to the war.

Overnight, Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose ahead of the talks, while U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher early Monday after hopes for lower interest rates fueled a winning week on Wall Street.

There are no major earnings due on Monday, while data releases include Spanish and EU trade balance figures.

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