As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin gear up for a significant meeting in Alaska later this week, European leaders are emphasizing the necessity of including Ukraine in any discussions aimed at concluding the ongoing conflict. Key figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have collectively articulated their stance in a joint statement issued on Saturday. They welcomed Trump's initiative to halt the violence in Ukraine while asserting that any path to peace must incorporate the voices and needs of the Ukrainian people.
The European leaders expressed their conviction that a successful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine requires a multifaceted approach. This includes active diplomacy, sustained support for Ukraine, and exerting pressure on the Russian Federation to cease its illegal war. Their joint statement underscores the critical need for robust and credible security guarantees that will empower Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This statement follows a productive meeting that Vice President JD Vance and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy held with Ukrainian and European officials over the weekend in London. The discussions aimed to strategize on the best ways to support Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict. Trump’s upcoming meeting with Putin on Friday in Alaska is anticipated to be a pivotal moment in American diplomacy, according to Vance.
In an interview conducted prior to his overseas meeting, Vance highlighted that the Trump-Putin summit represents a significant breakthrough in diplomatic efforts. “We’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can coexist in relative peace, and where the killing stops,” Vance told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. He acknowledged that the outcome would likely leave both parties dissatisfied, noting, “Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it.”
Vance also mentioned that the Alaska summit follows months of concerted efforts by American diplomats to break the stalemate in the war. “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 said, referring to Trump, Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy has expressed his support for Trump’s initiatives to broker a peace deal, though it remains uncertain whether he will attend the pivotal meeting. The Ukrainian president has consistently maintained that Ukraine will not concede any territory, insisting that it is ultimately up to Putin to bring an end to the war.
