Eurasia Press & News
Ukraine and its European backers are pushing for Kyiv to be part of peace talks as Trump and Putin plan to meet Friday in Alaska. Trump announced the summit last week and said that a peace settlement could include “some swapping of territories,” prompting a scramble of diplomacy. It will be Putin’s first visit to the United States in ten years and his first meeting with a U.S. president in more than four.
- After meeting European officials Saturday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said yesterday that Washington is also working on a trilateral meeting to include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Ukrainians are ready to work with Trump for “lasting peace” but “will not give their land to the occupier,” Zelenskyy wrote Saturday.
- The leaders of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union (EU) said in a joint statement Saturday that “meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities.”
- European leaders urged Trump to pressure Putin ahead of the summit with the threat of sanctions. The U.S. president has announced few details about his anticipated outcomes of the meeting.
What comes next.
- EU foreign ministers are holding talks today about the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit.
- U.S. NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker said that it was “certainly” possible Zelenskyy could attend the Alaska meeting; separately, Vance said that he did not believe that would be productive before Trump and Putin meet bilaterally.
- Vance also said that any peace deal would likely leave both Russia and Ukraine “unhappy.”
“We should want a sovereign and independent Ukraine; that is, a Ukraine that has the right to decide its own geopolitical orientation and has the right to develop sufficient military forces to guarantee its own security…That is not a matter simply for Moscow and Washington. That is clearly a matter where Kyiv has to be directly involved and also our European allies.”
