BRUSSELS, Aug 12: European Union leaders have appealed to US President Donald Trump to defend their security interests at a key summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later this week over the war in Ukraine.
The Europeans are desperate to exert influence over a Friday meeting that they have been sidelined from, and it remains unclear whether even Ukraine will take part.
Trump has said that he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year.
However, Trump has disappointed US allies in Europe by saying that Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory and that Russia must accept land swaps, although it remains unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.
Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to cow the EU, might secure favourable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.
The overarching fear for European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine. In a statement early on Tuesday, the leaders said that they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
They underlined that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the idea that Ukraine must commit to giving up land to secure a ceasefire. Russia holds shaky control over four of the country’s regions, two in the country’s east and two in the south. (AP)
