Latest news with #securityguarantees
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
'Coalition of Willing' leaders set out stance on Ukraine ceasefire pathway
LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Britain, France and Germany, co-chairs of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing", set out their position on the pathway to a ceasefire in Ukraine in a statement released after a virtual meeting on Wednesday. "Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," said the joint statement, published by Britain two days before a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. "The Coalition of the Willing is ready to play an active role, including through plans by those willing to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased. "No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia could not have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to EU and NATO."
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukraine's allies, after fears of sellout, signal hope for Trump-Putin talks
BERLIN/KYIV, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine and its European allies on Wednesday signalled hope that U.S. President Donald Trump would push for a ceasefire at talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin without selling out Ukraine's interests or proposing to carve up its territory. European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Trump in a last-ditch videoconference to lay out red lines ahead of a meeting between Trump and the Russian president in Alaska late on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land while Zelenskiy said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump - and Europe - were willing to crank up the pressure on Russia if Friday's talks proved fruitless. The U.S. president said he rated the meeting "a 10", and his apparent willingness to take his allies' concerns on board, if confirmed, could bring a measure of relief after fears that he and Putin could reach a deal over Europe's head at Ukraine's expense. However, Russia is likely to resist Europe's demands strongly. "President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska," Macron said. "The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president." Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, said the principle that borders cannot be changed by force must continue to apply. "If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should ... increase the pressure," he said. "President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other." Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has previously said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions. On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskiy flew into Berlin for German-hosted virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump. He and the Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land, the last three in all-out war, and embolden Putin to expand further west in the future. Russian forces have made a sharp thrust into eastern Ukraine in recent days in what may be an attempt to increase the pressure on Kyiv to give up land. Zelenskiy said there should be a three-way meeting between himself, Putin and Trump. "I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing (about his stated wish to end the war). He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine .." A source familiar with the matter said the call with Trump discussed possible cities that could host a three-way meeting, depending on the outcome of the talks in Alaska. Since announcing the Alaska summit, Trump has played down expectations, saying it would be a "feel-out" meeting. Wary of angering Trump, European leaders have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine's participation. Trump's agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made "great progress" at talks in Moscow. A Gallup poll released last week found that 69% of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev earlier said Moscow's stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024. As preconditions for a ceasefire and the start of talks, the Kremlin leader had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce its plans to join NATO. Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
Russia Today
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Zelensky refuses to leave Donbass
Ukrainian troops will not leave the territories they still control in Donbass voluntarily, Ukraine's leader Vladimir Zelensky has said, dismissing the suggestions they could be included in a potential land swap with Russia. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Zelensky claimed that ceding land in Donbass to Russia would only allow it to start a new war in a couple of years and push deeper into Ukraine. 'We will not leave Donbass. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the main issue—our territories are illegally occupied,' Zelensky stated, alleging that the territory would only serve as a 'springboard' for Moscow to launch a new campaign against Ukraine in a couple of years. 'Any issue of territories cannot be separated from security guarantees. Otherwise, now they want to gift them about 9,000 square kilometers; this is about 30% of the Donetsk region, and this is a springboard for their new aggression,' he claimed. The remarks come after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said the potential peace deal between Moscow and Kiev was bound to involve a land swap and require territorial concessions from both sides. 'They've [Russia] occupied some very prime territory. We're going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine,' Trump said on Monday. The Lugansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR) People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became part of Russia following a series of referendums held in 2022. While the LPR was fully liberated by the Russian military earlier this year, Moscow's control over other regions remains partial. Kiev maintains its claim on the four territories, as well as on Crimea, which voted to join Russia shortly after the 2014 armed Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. Zelensky has repeatedly publicly rejected any territorial concessions to Russia, maintaining his territorial claims. Moscow, however, has insisted that any potential peace deal must involve Ukraine's withdrawal from the country's new regions.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Ukraine will not pull its forces out of Donbas, Zelenskyy says
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he would reject any Russian proposal to pull Ukrainian troops out of the eastern Donbas region as it would deprive Kyiv of defensive lines and open the way for Moscow to conduct further offensives. The Ukrainian leader told reporters that territorial issues should be discussed after Russia agrees to a ceasefire, and security guarantees for Ukraine should be an integral part of that discussion. Speaking ahead of a summit on Friday between US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Zelenskyy also reiterated that Ukraine must be involved in any talks concerning its own territory. Trump has suggested an exchange of territory might be part of any putative peace deal. Zelenskyy said Russia's proposal was to halt its advances in other Ukrainian regions in exchange for Kyiv pulling back its forces from the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, which comprises the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Zelenskyy said Ukraine still controlled about 30 percent of the Donetsk region, or about 9,000 square kilometers, and had heavily fortified defensive lines and controlled strategic high ground there. Any pullout would create a launch pad for new Russian offensives, he said. 'Putin will have an open way to both Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. Also for Kharkiv,' Zelenskyy said. 'The territorial issue cannot be separated from security guarantees.'
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukraine will not pull its forces out of Donbas, Zelenskiy says
KYIV, Aug 12 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he would reject any Russian proposal to pull Ukrainian troops out of the eastern Donbas region as it would deprive Kyiv of defensive lines and open the way for Moscow to conduct further offensives. The Ukrainian leader told reporters that territorial issues should be discussed after Russia agrees to a ceasefire, and security guarantees for Ukraine should be an integral part of that discussion. Speaking ahead of a summit on Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Zelenskiy also reiterated that Ukraine must be involved in any talks concerning its own territory. Trump has suggested an exchange of territory might be part of any putative peace deal. Zelenskiy said Russia's proposal was to halt its advances in other Ukrainian regions in exchange for Kyiv pulling back its forces from the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, which comprises the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Zelenskiy said Ukraine still controlled about 30% of the Donetsk region, or about 9,000 square kilometers, and had heavily fortified defensive lines and controlled strategic high ground there. Any pullout would create a launch pad for new Russian offensives, he said. "Putin will have an open way to both Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. Also for Kharkiv," Zelenskiy said. "The territorial issue cannot be separated from security guarantees."
