Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan,” as tensions over elements that mirror long-standing Russian demands.

When Poland announced that an explosion damaged a railway track leading to Ukraine this week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk was quick to declare it was an unprecedented act of sabotage designed to cause catastrophe.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceled his agenda Friday in order to hold an urgent call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other European leaders about a US-Russian plan to end the war in Ukraine that would mean sweeping concessions to Vladimir Putin.

European leaders, gathering at the G20 summit in Cape Town, have not been consulted on the US plan. But European influence is limited. With critical military systems Ukraine relies on, mainly made in the US, it’s US president Trump who holds the cards.

European gas prices have soared as tensions escalate between Russia and the West after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.