Europe promises to ‘stand firmly’ with Ukraine as Trump, Putin plan summit

European leaders person welcomed plans by United States President Donald Trump to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, connected ending the warfare successful Ukraine, but called for continued enactment for Kyiv and unit connected Moscow to execute a conscionable and lasting peace.

The connection by France, Italy, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the European Commission precocious connected Saturday came arsenic Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that Kyiv volition not surrender onshore to Russia to bargain peace.

Trump, who has promised to extremity the three-year war, plans to conscionable Putin successful Alaska connected Friday, saying the parties were adjacent to a woody that could resoluteness the conflict.

Details of a imaginable statement person not been announced, but Trump said it would impact “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both”. It could necessitate Ukraine to surrender important parts of its territory, an result Zelenskyy and his European allies accidental would lone promote Russian aggression.

The European leaders, successful their associated statement, stressed their content that the lone attack to extremity the warfare successfully required progressive diplomacy, enactment for Ukraine, arsenic good arsenic unit connected Russia.

They besides said immoderate diplomatic solution to the warfare indispensable support Ukraine’s and Europe’s information interests.

“We hold that these captious interests see the request for robust and credible information guarantees that alteration Ukraine to efficaciously support its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” they said, adding that “the way to bid successful Ukraine cannot beryllium decided without Ukraine.”

The leaders said they were acceptable to assistance diplomatically and promised to support their “substantial subject and fiscal enactment for Ukraine”.

“We underline our unwavering committedness to the sovereignty, independency and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” they said, adding: “We proceed to basal firmly alongside Ukraine.”

Chevening talks

The connection came aft US Vice President JD Vance met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and representatives of Ukraine and European allies connected Saturday astatine Chevening House, a state mansion southeast of London, to sermon Trump’s propulsion for peace.

Zelenskyy’s main of staff, Andriy Yermak, who took portion successful the talks with European leaders and US officials, said Ukraine was grateful for their constructive approach.

“A ceasefire is indispensable – but the beforehand enactment is not a border,” Yermak said connected X, reiterating Kyiv’s presumption that it volition cull immoderate territorial concessions to Russia.

Yermak besides thanked Vance for “respecting each points of view” and his efforts towards a “reliable peace”.

The Reuters quality agency, quoting a European official, said European representatives had enactment guardant a counterproposal, portion the Wall Street Journal said the papers included demands that a ceasefire indispensable instrumentality spot earlier immoderate different steps are taken. According to the Journal, the papers besides stated that immoderate territorial speech indispensable beryllium reciprocal, with steadfast information guarantees.

“You can’t commencement a process by ceding territory successful the mediate of fighting,” the paper quoted a European negotiator arsenic saying.

There was nary contiguous remark from the White House connected the European counterproposal.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron besides spoke earlier successful the time and promised to find a “just and lasting peace” successful Ukraine, pledging “unwavering support” for Zelenskyy portion welcoming Trump’s efforts to extremity the fighting, according to a spokesperson for Downing Street.

Macron separately stressed the request for Ukraine to play a relation successful immoderate negotiations.

“Ukraine’s aboriginal cannot beryllium decided without the Ukrainians, who person been warring for their state and information for implicit 3 years now,” helium wrote connected X aft what helium said were calls with Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Starmer.

“Europeans volition besides needfully beryllium portion of the solution, arsenic their ain information is astatine stake,” helium added.

Trilateral meeting?

Meanwhile, Reuters and the NBC News broadcaster, quoting US officials, reported that Trump is unfastened to a trilateral acme with Putin and Zelenskyy. But, for now, the White House is readying a bilateral gathering arsenic requested by the Russian leader, they said.

The acme successful Alaska, the far-north territory which Russia sold to the US successful 1867, would beryllium the archetypal betwixt sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin successful Geneva successful June 2021.

Nine months aft that meeting, Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Trump and Putin past sat unneurotic successful 2019 astatine a G20 acme gathering successful Japan, during Trump’s archetypal term. They person spoken by telephone respective times since January, but the US president has failed to broker bid successful Ukraine arsenic helium promised helium could.

Ukraine and the EU person meantime pushed backmost connected bid proposals that they presumption arsenic ceding excessively overmuch to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine successful February 2022.

Russia justifies the warfare connected the grounds of what it calls threats to its information from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies accidental the penetration is an imperial-style onshore grab.

Moscow has claimed 4 Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – arsenic good arsenic the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed successful 2014.

Russian forces bash not afloat power each the territory successful the 4 regions, and Russia has demanded that Ukraine propulsion retired its troops from the parts that it inactive controls.

Ukraine says its troops inactive person a tiny foothold successful Russia’s Kursk region, a twelvemonth aft they crossed the borderline to effort to summation leverage successful immoderate negotiations.

Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk successful April.

Fierce warring meantime continues to rage on the much than 1,000-km (620-mile) beforehand enactment successful eastbound and confederate Ukraine, wherever Russian forces clasp astir a 5th of the country’s territory.

Russian troops are dilatory advancing successful Ukraine’s east, but their summertime violative has truthful acold failed to execute a large breakthrough, Ukrainian subject analysts say.

Ukrainians stay defiant.

“Not a azygous serviceman volition hold to cede territory, to propulsion retired troops from Ukrainian territories,” Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters arsenic she gestured to hundreds of tiny Ukrainian flags successful the Kyiv cardinal quadrate commemorating fallen soldiers.