German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron discuss to media previous to talks at Villa Borsig on July 23 in Berlin.
Christian Mang/Getty Pictures
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Christian Mang/Getty Pictures
As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin put together to meet in Alaska later this week, European leaders have pressured that Ukraine should be included in any talks with Russia over ending the struggle in Ukraine.
Leaders together with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen stated they welcome Trump’s work to “stop the killing in Ukraine,” however that the “path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”
“We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed,” the leaders wrote in a joint assertion issued on Saturday.
The European leaders additionally pressured of their joint assertion a necessity for “robust and credible security guarantees” that enable Ukraine to defend its territory.
Their assertion follows a gathering that Vice President JD Vance and U.Okay. International Secretary David Lammy held with Ukrainian and European officers over the weekend in London.
Trump is about to satisfy with Putin on Friday in Alaska to debate an finish to the struggle. Vance stated in an interview recorded earlier than his abroad assembly that the assembly between Trump and Putin represents a “major breakthrough for American diplomacy.”
“We’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops,” Vance advised Maria Bartiromo in an interview on Fox Information’ Sunday Morning Futures.
“It’s not going to make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it,” Vance added.
Vance stated the summit in Alaska got here after months of American diplomats working to “break the logjam” within the struggle. “We’re at a point now … we’re now trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict,” he stated, talking about Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy has stated he helps Trump’s efforts to leverage a peace deal, however it’s nonetheless unclear whether or not he’ll attend the assembly. Zelenskyy has maintained that Ukraine is not going to hand over any land, and stated it’s as much as Putin to finish the struggle.
“The Ukrainian people deserve peace. But all partners must understand what a dignified peace is. This war must be brought to an end — and Russia must end it. Russia started it and is dragging it out, ignoring all deadlines, and that is the problem, not something else,” Zelenskyy stated on Saturday. “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier.”
