{"id":160153,"date":"2025-08-10T12:18:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T12:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-european-leaders-warn-kyiv-must-be-part-of-talks-as-trump-open-to-inviting-zelensky-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T12:18:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T12:18:05","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-european-leaders-warn-kyiv-must-be-part-of-talks-as-trump-open-to-inviting-zelensky-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-european-leaders-warn-kyiv-must-be-part-of-talks-as-trump-open-to-inviting-zelensky-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: European leaders warn Kyiv must be part of talks as Trump \u2018open to\u2019 inviting Zelensky – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Joint statement from European leaders says \u2018Ukraine has freedom of choice over its own destiny\u2019
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European leaders have urged Donald Trump<\/a> to include Ukraine in peace talks with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin on Friday as the US president reveals a location for the meeting.<\/a>
Trump will be meeting with his Russian counterpart in Alaska in just under a week to discuss bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.<\/a><\/a>
Putin is expected to use the summit to set out his demands for a ceasefire deal, which includes Ukraine giving up two eastern regions and its sovereignty of Crimea.
Speaking to reporters at the White House<\/a> on Friday, the US president admitted any peace deal may involve \u201csome swapping of territories\u201d.
Reacting to the announcement, Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> said “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier\u201d, and warned that any negotiations must include Kyiv<\/a>.
A joint statement from European leaders \u2013 representing the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission \u2013 backed a ceasefire but warned that \u201cinternational borders must not be changed by force\u201d.
\u201cThe path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,\u201d it added.
A senior White House official has said that Trump<\/a> \u201cremains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders.\u201d
Responding to the meeting between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, European leaders said: \u201cWe welcome President Trump\u2019s work to stop the killing in Ukraine, end the Russian Federation\u2019s war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine.
\u201cWe 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 path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.\u201d
\u201cWe continue to stand firmly by the side of Ukraine. We are united as Europeans and determined to jointly promote our interests. And we will continue to cooperate closely with President Trump and with the United States of America, and with President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, for a peace in Ukraine that protects our vital security interests.\u201d
The statement was signed by British PM Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Freidrich Merz, Polish PM Donald Tusk, Finnish president Alexander Stubb and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
The letter in full was released by No 10<\/a>
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked European nations who have rallied behind his country ahead of a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump has said Friday’s meeting in Alaska with his Russian counterpart was to discuss ending the more than three-year war.
Saturday’s statement by top European leaders emphasising that peace cannot be achieved without Kyiv’s involvement came after the White House confirmed the US president was willing to grant Mr Putin the one-on-one meeting Russia has long pushed for, and suggestions from Mr Trump that a peace deal could include “some swapping of territories”.
This raised fears Kyiv may be pressured into giving up land or accepting other curbs on its sovereignty.
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that Mr Trump remained open to a trilateral summit with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, but for now, he will have a bilateral meeting requested by Mr Putin.
Mr Trump had earlier said he would meet Mr Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Mr Zelensky.
Ukrainian officials previously told the AP privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognise Ukraine’s inability to regain lost territories militarily. But Mr Zelensky on Saturday insisted that formally ceding land was out of the question.
Only five days away from his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, US president Donald Trump has not yet committed a position on inviting Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky to the talks.
A White House spokesperson has confirmed only that Trump is \u2018open to\u2019 the possibility of a trilateral meeting between the three leaders, but further details have not been shared.
Alongside European leaders, Zelensky has called for Ukraine to be represented at the talks.
The Independent<\/em> reports:
US president Donald Trump has confirmed he will be meeting with his Russian counterpart in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
Located to the west of Canada, the US state is not connected to the mainland, making it the only non-contiguous state in continental North America.
Alaska became a US state in 1959, nearly 100 years after the land was purchased by the country from the Russian Federation in 1867.
The chosen location is likely practical rather than symbolic, as it offers a middle ground between the two nations.
The Russian president\u2019s delegation will make its way over the Bering Strait \u2013 51 miles at its narrowest point \u2013 which separates Russia and the US to attend the meeting.
For security reasons, the exact location has remained undisclosed, and likely will not be in Alaska\u2019s capital, Juneau.
Announcing his meeting with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin, Trump said: \u201cI\u2019ll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner but I guess there\u2019s security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make. Otherwise I\u2019d do it much quicker\u201d
\u201cHe would, too. He\u2019d like to meet as soon as possible, I agree with it.\u201d
He went on to add: \u201cIt\u2019s a war that never should have happened. It would have never happened if I were president. There was no reason for it.\u201d
Earlier this year, a meeting between Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump turned hostile as US vice president JD Vance accused the Ukrainian president of being \u201cdisrespectful.\u201d
United States<\/strong>
Donald Trump has said a peace deal may involve the \u201cswapping of territories\u201d between Russia and Ukraine.
\u201cWe’re going to get some back. We’re going to get some switched. There will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,\u201d he said.
The US president did not comment on whether Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky would be included in the talks, but a White House spokesperson has said he is \u201copen to\u201d it.
Russia<\/strong>
The Kremlin confirmed the summit in an online statement and said the two leaders would \u201cfocus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis\u201d.
“It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska,” President Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said in a statement posted to the Kremlin’s news channel.
Ukraine<\/strong>
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the planned summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, would lead to “dead solutions\u201d if the deal excluded Kyiv.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelensky said Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done” and that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
On Saturday, Zelensky also backed a joint statement from European leaders which urged for Ukraine\u2019s involvement in the talks.
\u201cUkraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny\u201d is the message European leaders chose to send to US president Donald Trump ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin next week.
\u201cWe 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.\u201d
The Independent\u2019s<\/em> Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports:
Ahead of Putin and Trump\u2019s meeting in Alaska on Friday, here is the latest look at the situation on the ground in Ukraine.
Russia currently occupies large portion\u2019s of four Ukraine regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
Putin first recognised the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk as separatist regions in Ukraine in February 2022.
This paved the way for a full-scale invasion just days later.
Later in the year, the invading country formally announce the annexation of all four regions after voters in the region backed their provinces to join Russia in elections run by the country.
The votes were slammed as meaningless and illegal by Kyiv and Western allies.
It is likely Putin will reiterate his demand for Ukraine to give up the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Friday, as well as for an end to calls for Crimea \u2013 occupied since 2014 \u2013 to be returned.
Britain\u2019s foreign secretary David Lammy hosted a meeting with US vice-president JD Vance and European nationals security advisors on Saturday to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Understood to have been requested by the US, the meeting also saw Ukrainian officials in attendance. Mr Lammy said that the \u201cUK’s support for Ukraine remains ironclad as we continue working towards a just and lasting peace.\u201d
The meeting was held at Chevening, the foreign secretary\u2019s official country residence in Kent, where Vance and his family were staying.
The talks came ahead of US president Donald Trump\u2019s meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
European leaders have urged for Ukraine to be represented at the talks.
US president Donald Trump has conceded that any peace deal struck over Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine may see \u201csome swapping of territories.\u201d
Since beginning his second term, Trump has not taken a hard stance on the possibility of Russia gaining Ukrainian territory to bring an end to the war.
But international allies are outspoken against the idea. Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded to be included in the talks, adding that the country \u201cwill not give their land to the occupier.\u201d
Meanwhile, in a statement backed by the Ukrainian president today, European leaders say \u201cinternational borders must not be changed by force.\u201d
Russian forces currently hold several large swathes of land in eastern and southern Ukraine, including Crimea which was occupied in 2014.
In 2022, the country formally announced the annexation of four partially occupied regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is understood to have made only small advances inside Russian territory in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
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