Ukrainian citizens must be able to decide their own future, European Union member states said on Tuesday, setting out their position ahead of talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for Friday.
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are set to discuss the situation with Trump on Wednesday ahead of a summit in Alaska, amid concerns that Washington, which has so far been Ukraine's main arms supplier, could impose unfavorable terms on Kyiv in a peace deal.
“Useful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or a reduction in hostilities,” the leaders of all EU countries except Hungary said in a joint statement, adding: “We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must take into account the vital security interests of Ukraine and Europe.”
Kyiv and its European partners fear that Trump, eager to gain credit for making peace and striking a deal with Moscow, could in fact reward Russia for more than 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, the last three of which have been in open conflict.
“Ukraine's ability to effectively defend itself is an important part of any future security guarantees,” the EU said in a statement, which also underlined the EU's willingness to step up its contribution to security. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin's main ally in Europe, criticized the statement by his EU counterparts.
“The fact that the EU has not been proactive is sad. The only thing that could make things worse is if we start giving orders from the bench,” Orban said on the X programme.
“The only sensible step for EU leaders is to initiate an EU-Russia summit similar to the US-Russia meeting.”
Trump has hardened his stance toward Moscow, agreeing to send more American weapons to Ukraine and threatening buyers of Russian oil with high tariffs in an ultimatum that has now expired.
Still, the prospect of Trump hosting Putin on US soil for the first US-Russia summit since 2021 has revived fears that he could put narrow US interests ahead of the security of European allies or broader geopolitics.
Trump has said any peace deal would include “some mutually beneficial exchange of territory” between Russia and Ukraine, causing confusion in Kyiv and European capitals because virtually all of the territory in question is Ukrainian.
On Monday, Ukrainian troops reported retaking two villages in the eastern Sumy region, a small success in Russia's long and tedious advance in the southeast that has lasted more than a year.
“The situation is difficult. But we are holding back the enemy,” Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrsky wrote on Facebook after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior commanders on Tuesday.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, launched a new offensive in Sumy this year after Putin demanded the creation of a “buffer zone” there.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have been advancing west along other sections of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line for months, capturing villages almost daily, mostly in the Donetsk region.
An authoritative Ukrainian Deep State mapping project shows that Russian forces control about 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of the Sumy region and a total of about 114,000 square kilometers (44,000 square miles) of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, seized in 2014.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
