Negotiations on Ukraine's future cannot be conducted without its participation and until a ceasefire is established, nor can territorial concessions to Russia be a condition for peace. This is according to a joint statement by European leaders following the results of talks and consultations with Ukrainian leadership on Saturday.
This is a response to U.S. President Donald Trump, who plans to meet with Vladimir Putin in the U.S. on August 15 to discuss prospects for ending the war in Ukraine. For this, Moscow and Kyiv "need to exchange territories," Trump said a day earlier.
European leaders and the head of the European Commission issued a joint statement on August 15, ahead of the meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents in Alaska, outlining the common position of Ukraine's allies in Europe.
The communiqué was released on Saturday evening, a day after Donald Trump announced the location and date of his meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss prospects for ending the war with Ukraine. According to Trump, this would require, in particular, a "territorial exchange" between Moscow and Kyiv.
Trump did not elaborate on what he meant, but sources familiar with the August 6 talks in Moscow between Putin and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told The Wall Street Journal that Putin allegedly agreed to stop hostilities in exchange for Ukraine renouncing the Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
