Agression must never be rewarded - lead MEPs weight in ahead of Alaska
The statement was drafted by the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister and signed by six other high-ranking deputies, including Pekka Toveri, (Finland/EPP), Brando Benifei, (Italy/S&D), Ville Ninistő, (Finland/The Greens-EFA), Michael Gahler, (Germany/EPP), Michal Szczerba, (Poland/EPP) and Sandra Kalniete, (Latvia/EPP).
The statement demanded that Ukraine be included in the US-Russia talks on Friday.
"No peace in Ukraine can be negotiated without the full participation of Ukraine's democratically elected leadership and the backing of its people," it said, underlining that any deal must be grounded in international law and must ensure the prosecution of those responsible for war crimes.
The statement rejects the idea of exchanging territories in order to achieve a ceasefire. Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the proposal might include a territorial exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
"We emphasise that any arrangement on terms dictated by Russia or that would reward its war of aggression against Ukraine would gravely endanger the security of the European continent," the statement said.
The MEPs state Ukraine must be supported by its partners to be in a position to reach a ceasefire.
"Aggression must never be rewarded or acknowledged – neither in Ukraine nor anywhere else. If Russia succeeds in altering Ukraine's borders by force, the security of no country's borders can be assured," the statement read.
The signatories of the statement stressed that peace negotiations must be preceded by an unconditional ceasefire. and recalled that Russia has made unfeasible proposals in recent months as a pretext for prolonging the war.
Finally, the statement called on the EU to remain united and to provide political, economic, military, and humanitarian support to Ukraine until a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is secured.
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France 24
12 minutes ago
- France 24
For Trump, Putin summit presents the ultimate test of dealmaking
Trump will speak to his Russian counterpart about the Ukraine war on Friday in Alaska, the two presidents' first standalone summit since a 2018 meeting in Helsinki where Trump's cowed appearance haunted him long afterward. US officials said that Putin himself suggested the meeting. Trump agreed to invite him despite publicly saying how frustrated he has been with Putin's refusal to accept any proposal to halt the war. Trump's invitation to Putin, who is under indictment by the International Criminal Court, effectively ends the West's shunning of the Russian president since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, whose leader Volodymyr Zelensky has called the Alaska trip a "personal victory" for Putin. Trump and his aides have quickly tried to play down the significance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a radio interview that a meeting "is not a concession" and that Trump wants to "look at this guy across the table" and see if he is serious. Trump, voicing uncharacteristic humility about his diplomacy, said it was a "feel-out meeting" that would not in itself lead to a deal on Ukraine. He said he would speak immediately after the summit with Zelensky and other European leaders, who have all insisted that Ukraine not be excluded from talks on its fate. "European leaders, in the past, had the experience that whoever talks to Donald Trump last makes the most important impressions," said Liana Fix, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. There is "a very strong urge in Donald Trump to be the one who brings peace to Ukraine -- even for a fleeting moment of time, to have the picture of him agreeing with Vladimir Putin to a ceasefire," she said. Latest swing in strategy Trump had vowed to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands, within 24 hours of returning to the White House. But he has found the path difficult -- and his tactics have swung drastically. Trump berated Zelensky during a heated on-camera meeting at the White House where Vice President JD Vance accused Ukraine of ingratitude for US support, which Trump briefly shut down. Ukraine quickly realized it had to stomach Trump's approach and signed on to his ceasefire bid. When Putin did not, Trump threatened sanctions on Russia, only to agree to meet Putin. "The mere fact of holding such a summit will be a victory for Putin," Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said. "Putin has not offered Trump anything significant, and Trump is already inviting him to Alaska," he added, also calling the lack of new US sanctions by Trump an "unconditional victory" for Russia. Trump has rejected criticism that he is soft, noting that he ramped up tariffs on India, a key buyer of Russian oil. But Trump has also pushed for concessions from Zelensky, who has refused to surrender any land that Russia seized by force. George Beebe, the former director of Russia analysis at the CIA who is now director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute, which supports military restraint, said that Trump could begin to work out the outlines of a deal to end the war. Russia could begrudgingly accept eventual European Union membership for Ukraine if it in turn, stays out of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, Beebe said. "As long as that relationship is limited to political and economic ties rather than military commitments, I think that's something that they can live with," Beebe said of Russia. But he said that such a short-notice summit at the presidential level raised expectations that may not be met. "Trump is tackling an issue that is fraught with political danger, and there's absolutely no guarantee that this is going to be a success," Beebe said.
Euronews
42 minutes ago
- Euronews
European leaders hope to sway Trump on Ukraine during virtual meeting
European leaders will on Wednesday use a virtual meeting with Donald Trump to try to ensure the US president truly understands what is at stake for the continent before he meets Vladimir Putin later this week, but experts are doubtful they will succeed. Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, will join a meeting convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the early afternoon (central European time) that will also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the leaders of Finland, France, Italy, Poland, the UK, the NATO Secretary-General and the chiefs of the European Commission and Council. Merz, France's Emmanuel Macron and British premier Keir Starmer will then chair a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, scheduled to start at around 16:30 CET, according to media reports. "We welcome the efforts of President Trump to reach peace for Ukraine, a peace that is just and lasting and respects sovereignty and territorial integrity. And in this sense, we are working with Ukraine to make sure that this is kept in mind in the meeting on Friday," a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters on Tuesday. "What we're doing now is reiterating our views on what a just and lasting peace for Ukraine should be and that any decision on Ukraine can be taken with Ukraine at the table," Arianna Podestà added. Europe seen by Trump and Putin 'as largely irrelevant' Zelenskyy is not expected to attend the summit to be held in Alaska on 15 August between the US and Russian presidents. Trump told reporters on Monday that "out of respect I'll call him first" after the talks wrap up. The announcement last week that a summit would be held has led to a flurry of diplomatic contact in Europe over fears Ukraine and the wider continent's interests will be trampled on in a bid for a quick deal. EU leaders - bar Hungary - reiterated in a joint statement on Tuesday that no deal can be made without Ukraine at the table. They also wrote that "international borders must not be changed by force", thereby rejecting Putin's ceasefire proposal to trade the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Luhansk. "Unable to bring much to the negotiations, European leaders have been relegated to the margins with the EU seen by Trump and Putin as largely irrelevant," Dr Neil Melvin, Director of International Security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Euronews. "European leaders are able to inform Trump of their ideas, and the US will brief them on the summit outcomes, but Europe is in the position that the Ukraine conflict outcomes are being negotiated over its head and the continent's leadership is essentially an observer," he added. The call with Trump and Vance is a last-ditch attempt before the summit to get that point across before the Arctic meet-up. Trump treating peace deal like a 'real estate transaction' One of the central issues for Europeans, Ian Bond told Euronews, is that Trump appears to be treating a possible peace deal in Ukraine "like a real estate transaction". "He does not understand that some of the territory in the east of Ukraine that Putin covets would be vital to Ukraine's defence when (and it is 'when' not 'if') Russia resumes its aggression and tries to take more Ukrainian territory," the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform (CER) added. Additionally, recent comments by Trump "showed that he still blames Zelenskyy for the war, even though Russia was the aggressor." Vance's participation is also "significant", Majda Ruge, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) told Euronews, "because his position is further away from the one Europeans are hoping to get President Trump to agree to". The US vice-president told Fox News on Sunday that the US is "done with the funding of the Ukraine war business. We want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing". He also said that any deal was "not going to make anybody super happy" and called on Europe "to step up and take a bigger role in this thing, and if you care so much about this conflict you should be willing to play a more direct and a more substantial way in funding this war yourself". The EU and its member states are the biggest contributors to Ukraine's defence through their financial, humanitarian and military assistance to the war-torn country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in late February 2022. "The US Vice-President is keen to improve US relations with Russia and sees a need for compromise with Russian President Putin. He is therefore more likely to push for a position that involves greater concessions from Ukraine than what President Zelenskyy or the European leaders would like to see," Ruge added. Can European leaders sway Trump? The European leaders present in the meeting with Trump will then brief their counterparts involved in the so-called coalition of the willing. The group, led by France and the UK, was formed back in March following the initial thawing of relations between Washington and Moscow to discuss the security guarantees Europe could offer in the event of a peace deal. This will be their seventh meeting. They have so far agreed to the creation of a 'Multinational Force Ukraine' following reconnaissance visits to Ukraine by military chiefs and to "bolster Ukraine's ability to return to peace and stability", and to the establishment of a headquarters in Paris. "So far, the coalition of the willing has not been particularly willing to act. Its focus has been on preparing to support a peace settlement that was never likely as long as Putin's war aims were unchanged," Bond opined. "But what Ukraine needs at present is a coalition willing to help it before the cessation of hostilities – to put enough pressure on Russian forces that Putin is incentivised to stop fighting and make concessions. There is no sign of such a coalition at present," he added. The grouping itself, Dr Melvin said, "is a sign that the main institutions of the Euro-Atlantic community are now unable to deliver the political and security solutions that Europe needs" due to the fact that the EU and NATO run primarily on consensus. Whether Europe's efforts to rally Trump to their cause are fruitful will likely only be observed in Alaska on Friday. Their exchange will have been successful if Trump "stands up to Putin in Alaska, strengthens Zelenskyy's position militarily, and joins the Europeans in increasing sanctions pressure on Russia," Bond said, cautioning however that "it seems unlikely that the meeting will achieve any of those outcomes" given recent comments from US officials. "Maybe the best we can hope for is that Putin over-reaches so that even Trump finds it impossible to accept his proposals," he added.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Why Alaska? Trump and Putin to meet in strategic US-Russia site
When US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday (15 August) to discuss ending Moscow's war in Ukraine, the pair will meet for their first face-to-face encounter since Russia's full-scale invasion began on US turf with close geographic and cultural links to Russia. The choice of Alaska is no accident. The easternmost US state occupies a strategic and symbolic position in American–Russian relations that stretches back centuries. It is not the first time the state has hosted world leaders: Ronald Reagan met Pope John Paul II there in 1984, and Richard Nixon welcomed Japanese emperor Hirohito in 1971. But holding talks with Russia's president there carries more significance. Speaking on Monday in the White House, Trump said he is 'going to Russia on Friday'. However, while Alaska was once part of the Russian Empire, in 1867 the US bought it from the Tsarist regime for $7,2m, around $156m (€134m) in today's dollars. Links between Alaska and Russia run deeper still. In 1799, Tsar Paul I established the Russian–American Company, forging commercial and cultural connections that still echo today. Russian footprints Now fully part of the United States, Alaska retains visible traces of its Russian past. Historic buildings remain, and according to the state's official website, Russian Orthodox churches are active in some 80 communities. Many of these still use the old-style Russian Orthodox calendar, including celebrating Christmas on 7 January in Western calendars. Indigenous peoples such as the Yupik and Chukchi have lived on both sides of the Bering Strait for centuries and have maintained family, cultural, and trade ties despite the formalisation of the US–Russia border. Not always your friendly neighbour Alaska's geography has long made it strategically vital. Nicknamed the 'Guardian of the North', it is the closest US state to Russia: only 88 kilometres separate their mainlands, and in the Bering Strait some islands lie just 3,8 km apart. During the Cold War, Mikhail Gorbachev's government referred to the region as the 'Ice Curtain". Alaska was home to major US Air Force and Army installations, which operated as command centres, logistical hubs and bases for fighter interceptors on rapid alert. Today, Alaska is home to stations of the North Warning System, a joint United States and Canadian radar system for the atmospheric air defence of the region. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America's polar region. A contested highway to the Artic Today, Alaska sits at the gateway to a changing Arctic. The Bering Strait is the only direct maritime passage between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and as sea ice retreats because of climate change, the route's value to global shipping is growing. The Northern Sea Route, which traces Russia's Arctic coastline, is becoming more navigable, offering a shorter path between Asia and Europe, which echoes recent discussions on Greenland's strategic value. Traffic through the strait includes container ships, oil tankers, bulk carriers transporting minerals and ores, and vessels servicing oil, gas and mining operations in Alaska and Siberia. Land rich in resources Alaska's wealth in natural resources adds to its strategic weight. The state holds an estimated 3.4 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 125 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It ranks among the top oil-producing states in the nation, with major output from the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay fields. These resources are critical to US energy security as developing Alaska's oil, gas and critical minerals reduces dependence and strengthens both economic and national security. The state's mineral output includes significant quantities of zinc, lead and coal, along with other materials deemed essential for modern industry. Its vast boreal forests also provide timber, with Native corporations responsible for more than half of Alaska's total production.
