Ukraine, Europe and the United States agree that any exchange of territories between Russia and Ukraine can only take place with Volodymyr Zelensky’s OK. It would have been Donald Trump himself who recognized that Ukraine must be involved in the interviews in the area in any agreement of the fire with Russia. This was stated by the French president Emmanuel Macron, at the end of the talks between the US president, the European leaders and Zelensky, who had the purpose of preparing Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The tycoon “reiterated that territorial issues concerning Ukraine cannot and will not be negotiated except by the Ukrainian president”, said Macron, explaining that the “American will” is to “get a ceased for fire”.
The insistence of the republican on the involvement of Ukraine, if confirmed, could bring some relief to Ukraine and its allies, who fear that Washington and Moscow could reach an agreement that will sell the security interests of Europe and Kiev and propose to cut the Ukrainian territory.
“Putin doesn’t want peace”
“Putin is bluffing, he is trying to go beyond the line of the front” to pretend to be able to occupy all Ukraine, but “it is not so,” said Zelensky, hoping for further penalties against Moscow if the Kremlin does not accept the fire.
During a joint press conference in Berlin with the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Zelensky explained that he had exploited the virtual format meeting to reiterate to Trump and the European leaders that Putin does not “want peace”. “Putin cannot deceive us,” added the Ukrainian president, specifying that Trump promised that he will contact him after the summit with the Russian president on Friday in Alaska.
Ukrainian “must be at the table” of the negotiations in the next “meetings” after Friday meeting in Alaska, Merz asked, according to which one ceased the fire between Moscow and Kiev “must come first”, so that any negotiations can take place “in the right order”.
Previously Trump had said that both sides will have to exchange the territory to end the fighting, which cost tens of thousands of lives, at a time when Russian soldiers occupy about 20 percent of Ukraine.
A day of intense diplomacy
On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelensky had flown to Berlin, where Merz was received, who organized virtual meetings with the representatives of France, Italy, Poland and Finland, but also the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte. Zelensky then had a call with Trump, who in turn discussed European leaders, also together with his deputy JD Vance. The goal of the German Chancellor was to give a signal of unit to Trump, with the Europeans who fear that the exchange of territories can leave Russia almost a fifth of Ukraine and encourage Putin to expand further to the west in the future.
Moscow reactions and international contacts
An official from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexei Fadeev, judged the European Consultations with Washington “insignificant”, stating that the European Union is “sabotaged” the “diplomatic efforts of Washington and Moscow to solve the Ukrainian crisis”. “Europeans are formidable people who wish to see an agreement concluded,” Trump had written on his social network Truth Social, before the meetings.
Zelensky reported over 30 exchanges and consultations with his allies in the last few days, while Putin has conversed with his closest partners: the Chinese XI Jinping, the Indian Narendra Modi, the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the North Korean Kim Jong Una.
Summit in Alaska and reduced expectations
Since he announced the summit in Alaska, Trump has resized the expectations for the interviews, stating that it will be a “trial” meeting in an attempt to end Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Fearful of irritating Trump, European leaders have repeatedly claimed to appreciate his efforts, underlining, however, that there should be no agreement on Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine itself. Tuesday the Trump administration moderated expectations, declaring to journalists that the summit would have been an opportunity for him to “listen” and understand what he would need to reach an agreement.
The Trump agreement last week on the summit was a sudden change after weeks of frustration towards Putin for its resistance to the United States peace initiative. Trump said his correspondent has made “great progress” in the interviews in Moscow. After the meeting with Trump, also the “coalition of the willing”, a group of countries that is working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of ceased the fire, met online.
Pressure and surveys
A Gallup survey published last week noted that 69% of Ukrainians are in favor of a negotiated end of the war as soon as possible. But the polls also indicate that Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost, if this means overwhelming concessions. Before the calls, Zelensky said that it would be impossible for Kiev to accept an agreement that would require the withdrawal of his troops from the Eastern region of Donbas, most of whom is already occupied by Russia. This, he told journalists on Tuesday, would deprive Ukraine of a vast defensive network in the region, facilitating in the future the Russian advance in depth in the Ukrainian territory.
Russia advances on the field
Meanwhile, the Russian army accelerates in Ukraine, where Moscow forces have completed their older advance in 24 hours in Ukrainian territory for over a year, according to the analysis of the AFP of the data provided by the American Institute for the study of the war (ISW). The Russian troops, whose advance is accelerating, declared that they had conquered over 110 square kilometers more to August 12 compared to the previous day, which did not happen since the end of May 2024. In recent weeks, they usually took six days to advance so much. Sign of the deterioration of the situation, Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of families in about ten locations located near the eastern area of the country, where the Russian army has rapidly advanced in the last few days. Moscow has also launched a new wave of air attacks, with at least fifty drones and two ballistic missiles between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to Ukrainian air force
