EU Leaders Say Ukraine Should Be Free To Decide Its Own Future

Ukrainians must have the freedom to determine their own future, European Union (EU) member states said Tuesday, weighing in ahead of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lili Bayer and Andrew Osborn reported for Reuters.

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump, (Photo: Володимир Зеленський Facebook)

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump on Wednesday, before the summit in Alaska, amid fears that Washington — until now Ukraine’s leading arms supplier — may dictate unfavorable peace terms to Kyiv.

“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a cease-fire or reduction of hostilities,” the leaders of all EU countries except Hungary said in a joint statement, adding: “We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

Trump has said any peace deal would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine, prompting consternation in Kyiv and European capitals, as virtually all the territory in question is Ukrainian.

Kyiv’s military, meanwhile, said it had retaken two villages in the eastern region of Sumy on Monday — part of a small reversal after more than a year of slow, attritional Russian gains in the southeast.

Kyiv and its European allies fear that Trump, eager to claim credit for brokering peace and to secure business deals with Moscow, could in effect reward Russia for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, the last three in open warfare.