EU leaders urge Trump to defend Europe

The leaders of the European Union appealed on Tuesday to President Trump Defend your security interests at a key summit with its Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the end of this week about the war in Ukraine.

Putin seemed to be about to make a key territorial fight before Friday summitpotentially to use as leverage in any peace negotiation. Europeans are desperate to exert some influence on the meeting of which they have been marginalized. Trump has said he wants to see if Putin takes the end of the war seriously, now in his fourth year.

But Trump has disappointed American allies in Europe in saying that Ukraine will have to give up some territory controlled by the Russian. He also said that Russia must accept land exchanges, although it is not clear what Putin is expected to surrender.

The Ukrainian President’s office, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed on Tuesday to News themezone that will attend a virtual meeting with Mr. Trump’s leaders and Europe on Wednesday.

The Europeans and Ukraine distrust that Putin, who has fought the largest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy to try to intimidate the EU, could ensure favorable concessions and establish the contours of a peace agreement without them.

The general fear of European countries is that Putin will look at one of them below if he wins in Ukraine.

In an early statement on Tuesday, the leaders said that “they welcome President Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they stressed, “the way to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

“A fair and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders should not be changed by force,” they said.

Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Tuesday that “we all support the determination of President Trump, and together we must shape positions that will not allow Russia to deceive the world once again.”

The Ukrainian President has rejected the idea that Ukraine must commit to renounce land to ensure a high fire. Russia has unstable control over four of the country’s regions, two in the east and two of the country in the south.

“We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations,” Zelensky said on Tuesday. “As long as war and occupation continue, we must all maintain our pressure: the pressure of the strength, the pressure of the sanctions, the pressure of the diplomacy. I thank all those who are helping. Peace through the force.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Zelenskyy office, said that anything less than Russia’s strategic defeat would mean that any high fire agreement would be in terms of Moscow, erodes international law and would send a dangerous signal to the world.

Putin’s ultimate goal is to “eliminate Ukraine as a sovereign state by dismantling his military, foreign and right to self -determination policy,” Podolyak said in Telegram.

In Ukraine, a Russian missile attack against a Ukrainian military training center left a dead soldier and another 11 injured, Ukrainian land forces published in Telegram. According to Ukrainian terrestrial forces, soldiers who rushed the shelters were beaten with cluster ammunition, according to Ukrainian terrestrial forces.

Meanwhile, Russia seemed close to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, since it was reported that its forces quickly infiltrated positions north of Pokrovsk.

Military analysts who use open source information to monitor battles say that the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would give Russia an important victory on the battlefield before the summit. It would also complicate the Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where Kremlin has focused most of its military efforts.

“Much will depend on the availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,” wrote Pasi Paroinen, an analyst at Black Bird Group, based in Finland, in a publication over X on Monday night.

The Ukrainian army said their forces defend themselves from Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military command of the region published on Facebook on Monday that the enemy soldiers that penetrate the Ukrainian lines to capture more territory “face an inevitable death”, but acknowledges that the situation remains “difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.”

On Monday, Mr. Trump repeated that “there will be some exchanges of current lands.” He said that this would imply “some bad things for both” Ukraine and Russia. His apparently public rehabilitation of Putin, a couple in most Europe, has baffled Ukraine sponsors.

Trump also criticized Zelenskyy, noting that the leader of Ukraine had been in power during the war and said “nothing happened” during that time. It contrasts that with Putin, who has exercised unlinking power in Russia for decades.

It is not clear if the Europeans were restless for Trump saying by mistake that he would travel to Russia twice on Friday to meet Putin. The summit takes place in Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Tsar Alexander II sold it to the United States in a land agreement in 1867.

Europeans will make a new attempt to bring Trump to the cause of Ukraine on Wednesday at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Mr. Trump did not confirm whether he would participate, but said: “I will get everyone’s ideas” before meeting with Putin.

Tuesday’s statement was also destined to be a demonstration of European unit. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin’s closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, did not support him. He was the only one of the 27 leaders in the block who refused to do so.

Emmet Lyons contributed to this report.

• Ukraine
• Russia
• Trump administration
• Vladimir Putin