European leaders have issued a joint statement with Ukraine expressing support for US President Donald Trump’s call for peace talks to begin based on the current frontline with Russia.
Trump is seeking to broker a peace deal to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Last week, he called on Moscow and Kyiv to stop the fighting “where they are” after talks with both sides.
The statement signed by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, EU Chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Britain’s Keir Starmer and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, said, “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.” The leaders added that they can all see “that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”
Also, they asserted that Ukraine “must be in the strongest possible position – before, during, and after any ceasefire.” They added, “We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace.”
EU leaders are set to close ranks in support of Ukraine at a Brussels summit on Thursday – followed a day later by a “coalition of the willing” meeting of European leaders in London to discuss the next steps to help Ukraine.
Trump has announced his intention to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest in coming weeks, but it was not clear whether Zelenskyy would attend.
No date has been set for the Budapest summit, and Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated today that there was no sense of urgency. “Preparation is needed, serious preparation,” he told reporters.
Putin Accused Of Stalling Diplomatic Efforts
Moreover, Ukraine’s President and the European leaders in their statement, accused Putin of stalling for time in diplomatic efforts to bring his invasion of Ukraine to an end and opposed any move to make Kyiv surrender land captured by Russian forces in return for peace, as Trump has on occasion suggested.
Eight European leaders as well as senior European Union officials said in their joint statement that they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow’s billions of dollars (euros) of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war, despite some misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step.
Zelenskyy noted that Putin returned to diplomacy, calling Trump last week after the US President said he might supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
However, Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that “as soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue.” “We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” he said.
The leaders’ statement laid down a marker by saying the leaders “remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.”
Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to concede land and suggested it could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia.
However, after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” in the more than three-year war.
Trump said yesterday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he’s now doubtful it will happen.
Russia occupies about one fifth of Ukraine, but carving up their country in return for peace is unacceptable to Kyiv officials.
Also, a conflict frozen on the current front line could fester, with occupied areas of Ukraine offering Moscow a springboard for new attacks in the future, Ukrainian and European officials fear.
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