By Chris Summers
Contributing Writer
European Union leaders on Tuesday appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump to defend Europe’s vital security interests when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for talks on the Ukraine conflict.
After Trump requested a face-to-face meeting with Putin and threatened secondary tariffs of 100% against countries buying oil and gas from Russia, the Kremlin agreed to the summit, which is set to take place without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump said on Monday he would use the meeting to learn Putin’s “parameters” for ending the war, which began in February 2022 when Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
Asked about handing over Ukrainian territory, Trump said, “It’s very complex. Because you have lines that are very uneven, and there‘ll be some swapping, there’ll be some changes in land.”
In Tuesday’s statement, EU leaders welcomed Trump’s efforts to end the war and achieve “a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine,” but said the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.
“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the leaders stated. “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has wider implications for European and international security. We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”
Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained good ties with Moscow, was the only EU country that did not sign the statement.
Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of Ukraine giving up territory, including Crimea, which belonged to Russia until 1954 when the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, transferred it to Ukraine.
Russian troops currently hold most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in eastern Ukraine, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in the south.
A Russian missile attack left one soldier dead and 11 injured at a Ukrainian military training facility, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on Telegram.
Russia Advances on Pokrovsk
Russian troops were also reported to be taking positions in the suburbs of the crucial city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
Pokrovsk — known to Russian speakers as Krasnoarmeysk — is a key logistics hub, often described in the Russian media as the “gateway to Donetsk.”
It sits at the intersection of several supply routes linking it to other contested towns in the region, including Toretsk and Kostiantynivka.
On July 31, Russia said it had captured Chasiv Yar, a key town just outside Pokrovsk, after a 16-month battle.
Pasi Paroinen, an open-source intelligence analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, said on X that the Ukrainians “have a crisis on their hands.”
“Ukrainians will almost certainly rush in reinforcements to the area, but from where and at what cost?” Paroinen said. “Ukrainians are unlikely to have plenty of ready operational or strategic reserves, which means that the forces need to come off other sections of the frontline. This in turn will open further possibilities for the Russians to exploit elsewhere.”
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened a virtual meeting to discuss Ukraine.
Trump has not confirmed whether he would take part, but he said he would “get everybody’s ideas” before meeting Putin.
In June, Trump attended the NATO summit in The Hague, when an agreement was reached on all members of the alliance, except Spain, hitting the 5% of GDP defense spending target.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Expert magazine that Russia had been a victim of a “campaign of defamation.”
“To justify aggression and divert societal frustration against Russia, a complex campaign of defamation has been launched – fueled by constant provocations, falsehoods, and outright lies,” Zakharova said. “In the midst of a profound socio-economic crisis, today’s European leaders are seemingly in desperate need of an ‘enemy’ to blame for their failures and troubles.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
