European officials have emphasized that Ukraine must be included in any negotiations with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine as President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are ready to meet in Alaska later this week.
Leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed their support for Trump’s efforts to “stop the killing in Ukraine,” but added that the “path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”
In a joint statement released on Saturday, the leaders stated, “We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine, and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed.”
In their joint statement, the European leaders also emphasized the necessity of “robust and credible security guarantees” that enable Ukraine to protect its territory.
Their declaration comes after U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Vice President JD Vance met with European and Ukrainian officials in London over the weekend.
Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Friday to talk about ending the war. In an interview that was taped prior to his trip abroad, Vance stated that the Trump-Putin meeting is a “major breakthrough for American diplomacy.”
“We’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops,” Vance said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News.
“No one will be extremely delighted about it. “It’s likely that both the Russians and the Ukrainians will be dissatisfied with it in the end,” Vance continued.
According to Vance, months of efforts by US diplomats to “break the logjam” in the war culminated at the summit in Alaska. He referred to Trump, Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “we’re at a point now – we’re now trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict,” he said.
Although Zelenskyy has stated that he backs Trump’s attempts to use pressure to reach a peace agreement, it is still unknown if he will be present for the meeting. Zelenskyy has insisted that Putin should put an end to the conflict and that Ukraine will not cede any territory.
“Peace is what the Ukrainian people deserve. However, everyone involved needs to know what a decent peace is. Russia is responsible for bringing this war to a conclusion. The issue, not anything else, is that Russia initiated it and is prolonging it while ignoring all deadlines,” Zelenskyysaid reportedly on Saturday. “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier.”
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