3 days ago
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv must accept new borders, says Trump
Hungary did not endorse an EU statement published on Tuesday that supported Ukraine's right 'to choose its own destiny'.
The text, published on the European Council website, carried a footnote that said: 'Hungary does not associate itself with this statement.'
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has maintained diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow as other EU members have sought to make President Putin a pariah. Orban has also opposed European sanctions on Russia and vowed to block moves to welcome Ukraine into the EU.
EU leaders stressed 'the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny' before President Trump's meeting with President Putin.
'We, the leaders of the European Union, welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and achieving a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine,' a statement said.
'A just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force.'
The European preference (option one) is for a ceasefire on the current 680-mile long front line. Other possibilities include Russia extending gains in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions (option two), or also in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson (option three). Trump's insistence that any peace deal would involve 'some swapping of territories' could mean a trade, whereby Putin gets the whole of the Donbas in exchange for returning parts of Kherson to Ukraine (option four).
Citing reports from Ukraine's intelligence and military command, President Zelensky warned that President Putin was making preparations for new offensive operations in Ukraine.
'So far, there is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation,' Zelensky said in his nightly address. 'On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations.'
Putin was 'definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war,' he added. 'Putin is determined only to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before, applying the same pressure on Ukraine as before.'
Downing Street has warned President Trump not to trust President Putin to stick to a Ukraine ceasefire deal, as western leaders scrambled to help Kyiv prepare for a peace summit on Friday.
Putin cannot be trusted 'as far as you could throw him', No 10 said on Monday, as Britain pushed for guarantees to ensure that any pause in the fighting agreed at the meeting between the two presidents is not used by Russia simply as a breathing space to prepare for a new offensive.
European leaders urged Trump over the weekend to allow Ukraine to take part in the talks, nervous at what he might cede to Putin at the summit.
Trump confirmed that Zelensky would not attend his meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday. He said he would instead call the Ukrainian president once the summit was over. He speculated that Zelensky could meet Putin afterwards. 'I'll be there if they need,' he added.
Trump said he would only call Zelensky if Putin proposed a 'fair deal'.
President Trump criticised President Zelensky for refusing to cede territory and repeated that there needed to be some 'land swapping' to end the war.
In some of his harshest remarks about Zelensky in the past several months, Trump said he 'very severely' disagreed with his handling of the war, saying 'it never should have happened'.
'I was a little bothered by the fact Zelensky was saying 'I have to get constitutional approval',' he said. 'He's got approval to go into war and kill everybody? But he needs approval to do a land swap?'
European countries have said that any ceasefire should be agreed on the basis of the present front line, and have urged Trump not to accept a peace settlement that would award Putin more land.
President Trump has said Ukraine must accept the redrawing of its borders to achieve peace, before his talks with President Putin in Alaska on Friday.
In a press conference lasting longer than an hour, Trump confirmed that Zelensky would not attend the meeting at the end of the week.
Speaking about conditions for a ceasefire, Trump said: 'There will be some land-swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody.
'We're going to change the lines, the battle lines. Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They've occupied some very prime territory. We're going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine. They have taken largely — in real estate we call it oceanfront property. That's always the most valuable property.'
Trump appeared to be referring to the territory on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, a stretch of coastline that includes the city of Mariupol. Mariupol was reduced to rubble in one of the most brutal battles of the war when more than 8,000 people died during a Russian siege.
• Read in full: Trump to 'get back Ukraine's oceanfront property' from Russia
