Latest news with #RussiaUSsummit
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poland's Tusk says he feels fear and hope before Trump-Putin talks
WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland's prime minister said on Monday he felt a mixture of fear and hope ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit on the war in Ukraine this week, but added that Washington had pledged to consult its European partners before the talks. U.S. President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, and Kyiv fears that the two leaders may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war. "The American side has promised that it will consult with European partners on its position before the meeting in Alaska," Donald Tusk told a news conference. "I will wait... for the effects of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin - I have many fears and a lot of hope." He said that Trump's recent comments on the war in Ukraine could give the impression the U.S. president was increasingly understanding Ukrainian and European arguments regarding the conflict, but that he was not 100% sure that this position would be lasting. French, Italian, German, Polish, British, Finnish and European Commission leaders on Saturday welcomed Trump's efforts to try to end the war, but emphasised the need to pressure Russia and provide security guarantees for Kyiv. Tusk said that the joint statement from European leaders showed that they were united in their approach to Ukraine peace talks, adding that Kyiv must be involved in any such discussions. "For Poland and our partners, it is clear that state borders cannot be changed by force," he said. "Russia's war with Ukraine must not bring benefits to the aggressor."
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Zelenskyy wins EU and NATO backing as he seeks place at Trump-Putin talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won diplomatic backing from Europe and the NATO alliance on Sunday ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week where Kyiv fears President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3½-year war. Trump, who for weeks had been threatening new sanctions against Russia for failing to halt the war, announced, instead, on Friday that he would meet Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska. A White House official has said Trump is open to Zelenskyy attending, but preparations are under way for only a bilateral meeting. Russian strikes injured at least 12 in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, the country's foreign affairs ministry said on Sunday. Zelenskyy, responding to the strike, said, "That is why sanctions are needed, pressure is needed." The Kremlin leader last week ruled out meeting Zelenskyy, saying conditions for such an encounter were "unfortunately still far" from being met. Trump said a potential deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)," compounding Ukrainian fears that it may face pressure to surrender land. Zelenskyy says any decisions taken without Ukraine will be "stillborn" and unworkable. On Saturday, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said any diplomatic solution must protect the security interests of Ukraine and Europe. "The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday. "Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security." French President Emmanuel Macron and Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24 | POOL / VIA REUTERS EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss next steps, she said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told U.S. network ABC News that Friday's summit "will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end." He added: "It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation, deciding on its own geopolitical future." Russia holds nearly a fifth of the country. Rutte said a deal could not include legal recognition of Russian control over Ukrainian land, although it might include de facto recognition. He compared it to the situation after World War II when Washington accepted that the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were de facto controlled by the Soviet Union but did not legally recognize their annexation. Zelenskyy said on Sunday: "The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today." A European official said Europe had come up with a counter-proposal to Trump's but declined to provide details. Russian officials accused Europe of trying to thwart Trump's efforts to end the war. "The Euro-imbeciles are trying to prevent American efforts to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict," former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media on Sunday. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a vituperative statement that the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union resembled "necrophilia." Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, said Europe had been reduced to the role of a spectator. "If Putin and Trump reach an agreement directly, Europe will be faced with a fait accompli. Kyiv — even more so," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy attend a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25. | UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / VIA REUTERS In addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014, Russia has formally claimed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its own, although it controls only about 70% of the last three. It holds smaller pieces of territory in three other regions, while Ukraine says it holds a sliver of Russia's Kursk region. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, said a swap could entail Russia handing over 1,500 sq km to Ukraine and obtaining 7,000 sq km, which he said Russia would capture anyway within about six months. He provided no evidence to back any of those figures. Russia took about 500 square kilometers of territory in July, according to Western military analysts who say its grinding advances have come at the cost of very high casualties. Ukraine and its European allies have been haunted for months by the fear that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals between the U.S. and Russia, could align with Putin to cut a deal that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They had drawn some encouragement lately as Trump, having piled heavy pressure on Zelenskyy and berated him publicly in the Oval Office in February, began criticising Putin as Russia pounded Kyiv and other cities with its heaviest air attacks of the war. But the impending Putin-Trump summit has revived fears that Kyiv and Europe could be sidelined. "What we will see emerge from Alaska will almost certainly be a catastrophe for Ukraine and Europe," wrote Phillips P. O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "And Ukraine will face the most terrible dilemma. Do they accept this humiliating and destructive deal? Or do they go it alone, unsure of the backing of European states?" Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said on Sunday that Kyiv's partnership with its European allies was critical to countering any attempts to keep it away from the table. "For us right now, a joint position with the Europeans is our main resource," he said on Ukrainian radio. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a negotiated settlement was unlikely to satisfy either side. "Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it," he said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Zelenskiy wins EU, NATO backing as he seeks place at table with Trump and Putin
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy won backing from Europe and NATO on Sunday as he rallied diplomatic support ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week where Kyiv fears Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war. Trump, who for weeks had been threatening new sanctions against Russia for failing to halt the conflict, announced instead last Friday that he would hold an August 15 summit with Putin in Alaska. A White House official said on Saturday that Trump was open to Zelenskiy attending, but that preparations currently were for a bilateral meeting with Putin. The Kremlin leader last week ruled out meeting Zelenskiy, saying the conditions for such an encounter were "unfortunately still far" from being met. Trump said a potential deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)", a statement that compounded Ukrainian alarm that it may face pressure to surrender more land. Zelenskiy says any decisions taken without Ukraine will be "stillborn" and unworkable. On Saturday the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said that any diplomatic solution must protect the security interests of Ukraine and Europe. "The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday. "Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security." EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss next steps, she said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told U.S. network ABC News that Friday's summit "will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end". He added: "It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation, deciding on its own geopolitical future." Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, now holds nearly a fifth of the country. Rutte said a future peace deal could not include legal recognition of Russian control over Ukrainian land, although it might include de facto recognition. He compared it to the situation after World War Two when the United States accepted that the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were de facto controlled by the Soviet Union but did not legally recognise their annexation. Zelenskiy said on Sunday: "The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today." A European official said Europe had come up with a counter-proposal to Trump's, but declined to provide details. Russian officials accused Europe of trying to thwart Trump's efforts to end the war. "The Euro-imbeciles are trying to prevent American efforts to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict," former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media on Sunday. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a vituperative statement that the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union resembled "necrophilia". Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, said Europe had been reduced to the role of a spectator. "If Putin and Trump reach an agreement directly, Europe will be faced with a fait accompli. Kyiv - even more so," he said. No details of the proposed territorial swap that Trump alluded to have been officially announced. In addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014, Russia has formally claimed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its own, although it controls only about 70% of the last three. It holds smaller pieces of territory in three other regions, while Ukraine says it holds a sliver of Russia's Kursk region. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, said a swap could entail Russia handing over 1,500 sq km to Ukraine and obtaining 7,000 sq km, which he said Russia would capture anyway within about six months. He provided no evidence to back any of those figures. Russia took only about 500 sq km of territory in July, according to Western military analysts who say its grinding advances have come at the cost of very high casualties. Ukraine and its European allies have been haunted for months by the fear that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals between the U.S. and Russia, could align with Putin to cut a deal that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They had drawn some encouragement lately as Trump, having piled heavy pressure on Zelenskiy and berated him publicly in the Oval Office in February, began criticising Putin as Russia pounded Kyiv and other cities with its heaviest air attacks of the war. But the impending Putin-Trump summit, agreed during a trip to Moscow by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff last week, has revived fears that Kyiv and Europe could be sidelined. "What we will see emerge from Alaska will almost certainly be a catastrophe for Ukraine and Europe," wrote Phillips P. O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "And Ukraine will face the most terrible dilemma. Do they accept this humiliating and destructive deal? Or do they go it alone, unsure of the backing of European states?" Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said on Sunday that Kyiv's partnership with its European allies was critical to countering any attempts to keep it away from the table. "For us right now, a joint position with the Europeans is our main resource," he said on Ukrainian radio.
