European meeting on Ukraine precedes Trump-Putin summit

European Union foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting on Monday, days before a much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, at which there are fears a settlement to the war in Ukraine will be reached at Kyiv’s expense.

Europeans have been intensifying their contacts and striving to unite behind Ukraine since the announcement of the US-Russia summit in Alaska on Friday.

Trump hinted that a potential agreement could include a land swap between the two countries to end the war that began with the Russian invasion in early 2022.

While Volodymyr Zelensky hasn’t been invited to the upcoming summit in Alaska on Friday, US Vice President J. D. Vance said the United States is working to arrange a meeting between Trump and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

“President Trump is right when he says Russia must end its war on Ukraine… The United States has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday.

However, she stressed that any agreement between the United States and Russia must include Ukraine and the European Union, because it concerns the security of Ukraine and Europe as a whole.

The videoconference meeting scheduled for Monday at 2:00 PM GMT is in addition to a series of calls held over the weekend, including a meeting organized by the United Kingdom between national security officials from the United States and European countries, with Vance participating.

Over the past three days, Zelensky has spoken by phone with 13 European leaders and his counterparts in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Zelensky warned on Monday that making “concessions” to Russia would not lead it to end the war.

“Russia refuses to stop the killing and therefore should not receive any rewards or benefits,” he said in a statement on social media.

“This isn’t just a moral position; it’s a logical one… The killer isn’t satisfied with concessions”.

Zelensky confirmed on Sunday that Kyiv “is definitely working with the United States… Not a day goes by without us communicating about ways to achieve real peace,” warning of a Russian intent to “deceive the United States”.

In turn, the Russian president Vladimir Putin has communicated with nine heads of state or government over the past three days, most notably his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During his campaign, Trump pledged to quickly resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Upon returning to the White House in January, Trump began to grow closer to Putin, speaking to him repeatedly by phone.

However, he has recently begun to express his displeasure with Putin as Moscow intensifies its strikes on Ukraine and refuses to accept US proposals for an unconditional ceasefire in the war.

The announcement of the Alaska summit on Friday coincided with the expiration of a deadline set by Trump for the Kremlin to end the conflict, the largest in Europe since World War II.

European leaders on Sunday urged Ukraine’s inclusion in the negotiations.

A joint statement by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain, Finland, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen read, “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine”.

They considered that any negotiations should take place in the context of a ceasefire or a reduction in hostilities, and warned that a diplomatic solution must include strong and reliable security guarantees for Ukraine.

The Russian army currently controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.

Moscow is demanding that Kyiv officially relinquish four regions partially occupied by the Russian military: Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson, large part of Kramatorsk region, areas in Kharkov and Sumy regions.

In addition, Moscow demands that Ukraine stop receiving Western weapons and abandon its ambitions to join NATO.

Kyiv considers these conditions unacceptable and is demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces and Western security guarantees, including continued arms deliveries and the deployment of a European battalion on its territory.