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Euractiv
13-08-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Zelenskyy, European leaders to hold Ukraine online summit before Trump-Putin meet
Merz has also invited the French, British, and other European leaders and the heads of the EU and NATO to take part in the talks. They are then expected to talk to Trump and Vice President JD Vance in a second round of the conference call. The Trump-Putin meeting on Friday is so far planned to go ahead without Zelenskyy. This has fuelled fears Kyiv could be forced into painful concessions, including over land. EU leaders stressed on Tuesday "the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny", adding that "international borders must not be changed by force". Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters Tuesday, ruled out withdrawing troops from the Donbas region which Moscow claims. Merz's office said the conference call would discuss "further options to exert pressure on Russia" and "preparation of possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security". The talks would include leaders from "Finland, France, the UK, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the heads of the European Commission and Council, the secretary general of NATO, as well as the US president and his deputy", Berlin said on Monday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Merz are then also set to hold a round of talks of the so-called coalition of the willing of Ukraine's military backers. 'Difficult' battles "This is really a feel-out meeting a little bit," Trump said at the White House, but he also added that eventually "there'll be some swapping, there'll be some changes in land". Russia, as a prerequisite to a peace settlement, has demanded Kyiv pull its forces out of several regions claimed by Moscow, commit to being a neutral state, shun US and EU military support and be excluded from joining NATO. Ukraine has said it would never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in "difficult" battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east. Zelenskyy said on social media that "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." Trump, Putin peace talks in Alaska spark EU fears of a 'one-sided' land swap 'The Russian position is framed as a territorial swap', says one official (vib)
RTÉ News
13-08-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
European leaders to hold Ukraine online summit before Trump-Putin meet
European leaders will hold online talks with US President Donald Trump today, hoping to convince him to respect Ukraine's interests when he discusses the war with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has invited Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as the French, British and other European leaders and the heads of the EU and NATO to an afternoon video conference. They are then expected to talk to Mr Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in a second round of the conference call. The Trump-Putin meeting - their first since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine over three years ago - is so far planned to go ahead without Mr Zelensky. This has fuelled fears Ukraine could be forced into painful concessions, including over land. EU leaders stressed "the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny", adding that "international borders must not be changed by force". Mr Zelensky, speaking to reporters yesterday, ruled out withdrawing troops from the Donbas region which Russia claims. Mr Merz's office said the conference call would discuss "further options to exert pressure on Russia" and "preparation of possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security". The talks would include leaders from "Finland, France, the UK, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the heads of the European Commission and Council, the secretary general of NATO, as well as the US president and his deputy", Berlin said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Merz are then also set to hold a round of talks of the so-called Coalition of the Willing of Ukraine's military backers. 'Difficult' battles Mr Trump played down the possibility of a breakthrough in Alaska but said he expected "constructive conversations" with Mr Putin. "This is really a feel-out meeting a little bit," Mr Trump said at the White House, but he also added that eventually "there'll be some swapping, there'll be some changes in land". Russia, as a prerequisite to a peace settlement, has demanded Ukraine pull its forces out of several regions claimed by Russia, commit to being a neutral state, shun US and EU military support and be excluded from joining NATO. Ukraine has said it would never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. Ukraine said it was engaged in "difficult" battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east. Mr Zelensky said on social media that "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."
LeMonde
11-08-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Merz to hold Ukraine talks Wednesday with Trump, Zelensky and European leaders
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to hold talks with the US and Ukrainian presidents and European leaders on Wednesday, two days ahead of a US-Russia summit in Alaska. Merz will discuss the Ukraine war with leaders from "Finland, France, the UK, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the heads of the European Commission and Council, the secretary general of NATO, as well as the US president and his deputy," his office said on Monday, August 11. They would discuss "further options to exert pressure on Russia" and the "preparation of possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security", the statement said. Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius said the talks, at Merz's invitation, would be "variously composed roundtable discussions" without giving further details. According to Germany's Bild daily, a first conference call will include the European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. This would be followed by a joint call with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the newspaper said. The summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has raised concerns among European leaders that an eventual agreement might require Kyiv to cede swathes of territory. Earlier on Monday, German government spokesman Steffen Meyer repeated Berlin's longstanding position that "borders must not be changed by force", in reference to Ukrainian territory seized by Russia.
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Europe tries to shore up fragile unity as it realises it cannot rely on US
They came smiling, but the task was immense. After dozens of summits at which a hesitant and discordant EU had failed to agree on anything like a cohesive plan for the end of the war in Ukraine, this one had, suddenly and vitally, to be different. The leaders of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and – speaking for the Nordic and Baltic states – Denmark, plus Britain's prime minister and the heads of Nato and the European Commission and Council, arrived in Paris reeling from a historic week. Last Monday, the US vice-president, JD Vance, had told Europe its 'excessive regulation' of potentially harmful technologies was all wrong. Two days later, Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin to start talks between the US and Russia on ending the war. The same day, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told his European opposite numbers at a meeting in Brussels that the US was no longer 'primarily focused' on Europe's security and the continent would have to take the lead in defending Ukraine. On Friday came Vance's coup de grâce: a violent ideological assault accusing European democracies of quashing free speech, bowing to multiculturalism and running scared of voters. Forget Russia: the real threat to Europe, he said, was 'from within'. The US vice-president then declined to talk to the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, instead meeting Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right AfD, a party that Germany's security agency keeps under surveillance as a potential threat to democracy. In five days, leaders were made forcefully aware of three realities: first, the US and Europe appeared no longer to share the values that, since 1945, had underpinned the transatlantic alliance. Second, Europe could no longer rely on the US to defend it. Third – on the immediate question to which Europe was most eagerly awaiting an answer – the US plan, insofar as it actually exists, did not seem to include a place at the table for Europe (including, for that matter, Ukraine). Monday's Paris summit was convened by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, because, in the words of an Elysée adviser, 'there is now a necessity for Europeans to do more, better and in a coherent way, for our collective security'. Those attending were deemed to be the most determined, but also the best equipped, a coalition not just of the willing but the capable – including Britain, no longer an EU member but a major contributor to Ukraine and a potent European military force. Arriving in Paris, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said Europe's security was 'at a turning point. Yes, it's about Ukraine – but also about us. We need an urgency mindset. We need a surge in defence. And we need both now.' But Monday's summit is likely to be the first of many on the road to a coherent European security policy for Ukraine and for Europe more broadly: Europe's security environment may have changed, fundamentally, but Europe has not. It has its 'enemies within': populist, far-right, Moscow-friendly, pro-Trump governments that will block a common security policy where they can. Hungary's foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, lost no time in denouncing Monday's summit. The meeting was a gathering of 'pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders' aimed at 'preventing a peace agreement in Ukraine', he said, adding that unlike them, Budapest 'supports Donald Trump's ambitions … and wants peace in Ukraine'. Robert Fico, Slovakia's populist prime minister, also had a go. EU officials had no mandate for Europe's role in any Ukraine ceasefire, he said, adding that the discussions did not concern the EU and their participation hurt confidence in the bloc. Countries not invited to the Paris talks were also grumbling. 'Even within the EU, not all states are treated equally,' said Slovenia's pro-European president, Nataša Pirc Musar. 'This is not the Europe we aspire to [or] the Europe that will be respected.' Other leaders will dread the impact of a big increase in defence spending on already fraught domestic politics. According to Nato, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg and Slovenia all spend less than the target 2% of GDP on defence. There are mighty battles in prospect over more shared borrowing – which Germany, among others, strongly opposes – to fund Europe's collective security needs, and over the use of frozen Russian assets. More immediately, there are differences over Ukraine's postwar security guarantees. Macron had already raised the possibility of an eventual European peacekeeping force in Ukraine last year, and Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, said on Sunday the UK was prepared to put troops on the ground. Sweden followed suit on Monday. The Netherlands said it was 'not negative' about the idea, but Germany said it was 'premature' and Poland – which at 4% spends more of its GDP per head on defence than any other Nato member – said it was 'not planning to send any Polish troops'. EU diplomats acknowledge the Trump administration's brutally transactional, unashamedly ideological stance could splinter Europe's already fragile unity. Whether or not it does, they say, could depend on the process of which Monday's Paris meeting is but the first step.
