A dealer watches as U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to barter for an finish to the battle in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on the ground on the New York Inventory Change in New York Metropolis, U.S., August 15, 2025.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
International markets have been on tenterhooks Monday as momentum to finish the battle in Ukraine gave the impression to be ramping up, with European leaders heading to Washington for extra talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on ending the battle in Ukraine.
European markets traded combined forward of the summit later at present on the White Home, which follows Trump’s high-profile assembly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, whereas U.S. inventory futures had moved decrease. In the meantime, Asia-Pacific indices in a single day traded principally increased in anticipation of the talks.
Merchants can be hoping that an finish to the Russia-Ukraine battle — a battle which started in 2022 and which has shaken the worldwide financial system, disrupting commerce and provide chains, and creating geopolitical chasms between main economies within the West and East — might be nearer now than at every other time.
However these within the know say fledgling talks between stakeholders Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the U.S. are just the start of what might be a protracted and thorny path to a ceasefire — as Trump’s inconclusive talks with Putin on Friday proved — not to mention peace.
That will be in stark distinction to Trump’s well-documented love of a fast deal, and needs to be a wake-up name for international market optimism, specialists say.
“Peace agreements take a really, very very long time to realize,” James Bindenagel, visiting fellow on the German Marshall Fund and former U.S. ambassador to Germany, instructed CNBC Monday.
“And what Putin has mentioned is that he needs peace talks so he can proceed the battle, figuring out that it will not come to a peace settlement for a really very long time. That’s merely not acceptable,” he mentioned.
“You can not negotiate on a peace settlement for 5 years, ten years, and let the Russians proceed their battle in opposition to the Ukrainians.”
Underneath stress
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO chief Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are among the many European leaders touring to Washington for talks on Monday.
They’re accompanying Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to debate Ukraine’s future and doable situations for a peace deal, together with land swaps (reportedly proposed by Putin) and safety ensures — all seen as essential by Europe, if there’s to be a ceasefire and peace. Trump has dominated out the potential for Ukraine regaining management of Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014, and becoming a member of NATO.
Zelenskyy is prone to come underneath stress to enter a deal. In a put up on Reality Social, Trump mentioned the Ukrainian president may “finish the battle with Russia virtually instantly, if he needs to, or he can proceed to battle.”
The assembly follows Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin final Friday, however the talks concluded with out a ceasefire. It has been broadly reported since then that Putin instructed Trump that he would agree to at least one, if Russia was handed Ukraine’s japanese Donbas area.
The view from Ukraine isn’t optimistic, contemplating that Putin had already rejected the supply of a ceasefire that would type the premise of peace negotiations. “To realize an enormous peace deal is rather more tough,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, instructed CNBC on Monday.
“It is a tough query with huge particulars and it’ll take lots of time,” he instructed CNBC’s “Europe Early Version.”
No ‘fast repair’
European protection shares have been in focus Monday, with merchants betting on a constructive outlook for the sector regardless of the consequence of talks as European leaders have pledged to extend protection spending.
On Monday, Germany’s Rheinmetall was up 2.8%, whereas Hensoldt and Renk have been additionally round 4% increased, respectively. Italian agency Leonardo was up 2.1% in early offers whereas London-listed BAE Methods additionally traded 2.3% increased and Babcock 3.4% increased.
“That is the start of a protracted negotiation,” Olivia Allison, senior advisor at PRISM Strategic Intelligence, instructed CNBC Monday. “Anybody on the lookout for a fast repair can be disillusioned,” she famous.
“Whatever the consequence … there can be an emphasis on protection, on defending vital nationwide infrastructure, and I feel the markets must also take that under consideration,” she famous.
“A peace deal, which I feel can be a protracted course of, isn’t an finish to the connection between Russia and Europe.”