This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv “values and fully supports” a joint statement by its European allies who reiterated calls that any peace talks with Russia must include Ukraine.
“The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post on August 10.
The statement by the British, French, Italian, German, Polish, Finnish, and European Commission leaders on August 9 came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week in a bid to end the Ukraine war. The allies welcomed Trump’s efforts to try to resolve the 41-month-old military conflict but emphasized the need to pressure Moscow and provide security guarantees for Kyiv.
The statement by the European leaders “firmly” reiterated support for Ukraine after Kyiv pushed back against US suggestions it would need to cede some territory to Russia, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying Ukraine’s future “cannot be decided without the Ukrainians.”
“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 statement said, adding that “Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny.”
“We stand ready to support this work diplomatically as well as by upholding our substantive military and financial support to Ukraine,” the leaders’ statement said.
NBC News, citing a senior US official and three others briefed on the matter, reported late on August 9 that the White House is considering inviting Zelenskyy to the Alaska meeting on August 15.
However, Reuters later quoted another White House official as saying that while Trump would be open to a three-way meeting in Alaska, for now, plans were only for Trump-Putin bilateral talks as requested by the Russian leader.
Putin has so far ruled out meeting with Zelenskyy, who has said he is ready for such direct talks.
Trump has suggested that any resolution to the war could include “swapping of territories.” That would potentially conflict with Kyiv’s longstanding position that it must regain all the territory Russia currently occupies.
“We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched,” Trump said at the White House on August 8. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we’ll be talking about that either later, or tomorrow.”
In a video released hours later, Zelenskyy warned that any peace deal excluding Kyiv or forcing the ceding of territory would not be acceptable.
“Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” he said
“Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work,” Zelenskyy said.
“The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together — and only together with Ukraine — this is key principle,” he said.
Macron — following phone calls with Zelenskyy and other Western allies — echoed those remarks, saying that “the future of Ukraine cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for more than three years now.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed negotiators, on August 9 reported that European officials had presented a counterproposal to the unspecified US plan, including a requirement that a cease-fire take place before any other steps are made and that any swaps of territory be reciprocal and include security guarantees.
European officials presented their proposals to US Vice President JD Vance during a meeting with Ukrainian and European officials at a country mansion outside of London on August 9, the report said.
The Journal’s report could not immediately be verified. Reuters said a European official confirmed that a counterproposal was put forward but did not provide details.
Zelenskyy said his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was at the meeting in Britain.
“There have been talks between security representatives of the United States and Europe — Ukraine, the United States — Vice President Vance, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, and Poland. The meeting was constructive. All our messages were conveyed. Our arguments are being heard,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that “it is important that our joint approaches and shared vision work toward a genuine peace. A consolidated position. A cease-fire. An end to the occupation. An end to the war.”
A statement from Downing Street said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron in a phone call “discussed the latest developments in Ukraine, reiterating their unwavering support to President Zelenskyy and to securing a just and lasting peace for the Ukrainian people.”
“They welcomed President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine and end Russia’s war of aggression and discussed how to further work closely with President Trump and President Zelenskyy over the coming days.”
The Trump-Putin talks come at a pivotal moment, with Trump increasingly frustrated with Putin and the Russian president showing no signs of bending on the Kremlin’s maximalist demands. Trump and Putin have held six phone calls, and the White House’s lead envoy has traveled to Moscow at least three times.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov confirmed the meeting and said that Alaska was a symbolic location, given the two countries’ shared Arctic borders.
Russia’s invasion has turned into the largest land war in Europe since World War II, devastating Ukraine, and transforming Russia, turning its economy into a war machine and establishing a police-state government criminalizing dissent.
Moscow’s casualties, dead and wounded, stand at more than 1 million, according to Western estimates. Ukraine’s war dead are believed to exceed 100,000, with overall casualties around 400,000.
Despite the toll, and international pressure, Putin has pressed his advantage on and off the battlefield.
Russian troops are grinding down Ukrainian defenses, closing in on two major cities, Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar.
Russia forces have also battered Ukrainian cities with record numbers of missiles and drones in recent months, targeting civilians, residential buildings, and electricity infrastructure.
Ukraine has also targeted military-related infrastructure deep inside Russia with drone strikes. On August 10, Ukraine’s military said that it had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region in an overnight drone attack.
Earlier, regional authorities in Saratov said at least one person was killed and several others injured in a Ukrainian drone strike that hit several apartments and an “industrial facility.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that it shot down 140 Ukrainian drones between 8 p.m. on August 9 and 11.30 a.m. on August 10. The ministry reports only how many drones its defense units down not how many Ukraine launches.
The damage and casualties caused by the Ukrainian attacks are disproportionate to the many deaths and injuries, and severe destruction inflicted by the Russian forces since the invasion began.
Ukraine’s military also said on August 10 that it had taken back the village of Bezsalivka in the northeastern Sumy region from the Russian Army. It claimed that 18 Russian troops had been “eliminated” in the fighting.
Meeting In Alaska
The decision to meet Putin face-to-face — something that Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden refused to do following the invasion — reflects Trump’s belief that his relationship with the Russian leader will yield a durable peace agreement.
For Putin, meeting Trump in person — without the presence of Zelenskyy or Ukrainian officials — is a small victory, reflecting Putin’s position that Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader and that a grand bargain to end the war can only be reached directly with the United States.
Traveling to the United States is also a small victory for Putin who is under a war crimes arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Only members of the court are obliged to detain him, and the Trump administration is openly hostile to the Hague tribunal.
On the possibility of potentially inviting Zelenskyy to the Alaska session, NBC quoted an unnamed US official as saying, “Everyone is very hopeful that would happen.” The official added, however, that no invitation has yet been offered.
Land ‘Swapping’
It was unclear what Trump meant by “swapping” territory; Ukraine doesn’t currently hold any Russian territory.
Russia seized control of the Crimean Peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014 and now occupies about one-fifth of the country, including almost all of the Luhansk region and substantial parts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions, the entirety of which Moscow now baselessly claims belong to Russia.
Reuters quoted Kyiv resident Olesia Petritska, 51, as saying that “not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories.”
The announcement of the summit coincided with a deadline Trump set for Putin to agree to a cease-fire or face severe tariffs targeting Russia’s oil and other exports, along with its trading partners facing secondary tariffs on oil purchased from Russia.
