KYIV — European leaders closed ranks behind Ukraine this weekend, warning that peace cannot be brokered without Kyiv’s consent, as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, reported by Arab News.
Trump has cast the Friday talks as an effort to end the war, now grinding into its fourth year, and has floated the idea of “swapping territories” — a notion that has alarmed Kyiv and its allies. The Kremlin has long sought a one-on-one meeting with Washington, and the White House confirmed Trump will grant it, though a trilateral session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains possible.
The European Union president, along with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland, and the UK, issued a joint statement on Saturday calling for a “just and lasting peace” backed by “robust and credible” security guarantees for Ukraine. “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” they declared, reaffirming that borders must not be changed by force.
Zelensky, in a message on X, thanked allies and insisted that “the end of the war must be fair.” Speaking Saturday, he vowed Ukraine would not reward Russia for its aggression: “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
The White House has been pressing for a ceasefire, but a month of diplomacy has yielded little. Kyiv has shown willingness to discuss terms, yet Moscow demands Ukraine abandon its NATO aspirations, limit its military, and cede occupied territories — conditions Zelensky publicly rejects.
Vice President JD Vance met with European and Ukrainian officials in the UK on Saturday to discuss the conflict’s future. With tens of thousands dead and neither side close to compromise, the Trump-Putin meeting could prove pivotal — or deepen the impasse.
