Ukraine’s European allies rallied behind the war-torn country on Saturday, stressing the need to respect its national sovereignty and to include Kyiv in peace negotiations, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion of a land swap to end the conflict.
The renewed show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s efforts to defend his country against Moscow’s aggression comes ahead of the meeting Trump plans with Russian President Vladimir Putin set for this coming Friday in Alaska.
“A diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests,” the leaders of the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said in a joint statement issued late Saturday. “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” they said.
“We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,” the leaders stressed.
Trump said on Friday that there will be “some swapping of territories” as part of a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine, a proposition that was quickly rejected by Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv is “ready to work together with President Trump,” but any decisions made without Ukraine are “unworkable,” he added.
Ukraine and its allies have no doubts “about America’s ability to ensure that the war ends,” Zelenskyy said in a separate statement. “The President of the United States has the leverage and the determination.”
Under the proposal being floated by the Trump administration, the Kremlin would agree to a freeze of the war along the contact line in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russia controls less land than in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO. In return, Moscow would be allowed to keep the Donbas, said the person, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin last week and told Trump that the Russian president had presented the terms under which the Kremlin would agree to stop its military offensive in Ukraine, a White House official told POLITICO. The official declined to describe Russia’s terms, but Trump said land swaps between Russia and Ukraine are under discussion.
European governments scrambled on Saturday to coordinate ahead of the Trump-Putin summit set for Aug. 15. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arranged an urgent meeting of European and Ukrainian officials in the U.K. to discuss the prospects for a ceasefire agreement, in a gathering that included U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
In their statement late Saturday, the European leaders, emphasized that “international borders must not be changed by force” and stressed that a truce needs to be in place in order to facilitate peace talks.
“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the leaders said. “Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny,” they added.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting.
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