Europeans to back Zelensky in Washington as Trump presses Ukraine deal

LONDON/KYIV, August 19 ------ European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington, they said, seeking to support Zelensky’s position as the US president presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end the Ukraine war.

Trump is leaning on Zelensky to strike an agreement after he met Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. “If peace is not going to be possible here, and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands ... we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Trump on Sunday promised “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA” in a social media post without specifying what this might be. Sources briefed on Moscow’s thinking told Reuters the US and Russian leaders have discussed proposals for Russia to relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv ceding a swathe of fortified land in the east and freezing the front lines elsewhere.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said Russia agreed that any peace agreement on Ukraine must provide security guarantees to Kyiv. “Many leaders of #EU states emphasize that a future peace agreement should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine,” Ulyanov said on social media platform X. “Russia agrees with that. But it has an equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees.” “We were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection,” Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, suggesting this would be in lieu of Ukraine seeking NATO membership. He said it was “the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.”

Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty enshrines the principle of collective defense, in which an attack on any member is considered an attack on all. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also travel to Washington, as will Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has played rounds of golf with Trump this year, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of many Trump policies.

European show of unity

European leaders at the Sunday meeting projected unity, welcoming US talk of a security guarantee but stressing no discussions over territory could take place without Kyiv’s involvement and clear arrangements to safeguard the rest of Ukraine’s land. Some called for an immediate ceasefire, which Trump originally said he was trying to secure during his summit with Putin. “You cannot negotiate peace under falling bombs,” Poland’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

A joint communique released by Britain, France and Germany after the meeting said their leaders were ready “to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased, and to help secure Ukraine’s skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces.” Zelensky said on X there had been “clear support for Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty” at the meeting. “Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force.”

Source: manilatimes.net