Brussels (AP) – Ukraine and European supporters argue that the US and Russia cannot decide on land swaps behind their backs This week’s summithowever, Europeans acknowledge that it is unlikely that Moscow will give up control of the Ukrainian lands it holds.
Advances Friday’s summit in Alaska, US President Donald Trump suggested that the peace deal could include “territorial exchanges,” but Europeans saw no indication that Russia would offer anything to exchange. So far, no Europeans or Ukrainians have been invited to the summit.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the European Union will meet on Monday in consultations with Ukraine between US and European security advisors over the weekend. They are wary of that President Vladimir Putin They attempt to assert political victory by portraying Ukraine as inflexible.
There is growing concern in Europe and Ukraine that Kiev may be forced to abandon land or accept other curbs about its sovereignty. Ukraine and its European allies reject the concept that they should assert any territory, even before Putin agrees to a ceasefire.
“As we work towards sustainable and fair peace, international law is clear. All territories that are temporarily occupied belong to Ukraine,” EU foreign policy director Kaha Karas prior to the ministerial meeting.
“Sustainable peace also means we cannot reward the attack,” Karas said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tass said, “It must be clear to Poland and our European partners — and I hope that all of NATO cannot be forced to change the borders of the province.” According to the Polish News Agency’s PAP, he said that the exchange of land or the conditions for peace “must be agreed to Ukraine’s participation.”
On Sunday, Prime Minister Friedrich Merz said Germany would not accept that territorial issues would be debated or decided “over the heads” of Europeans or Ukrainians.
Still, it is difficult to ignore the reality of earth.
In 2022, Russia illegally annexed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, annexing Herson to the south and Zaporisia to the south, despite not having complete control. That too Occupying the Crimea PeninsulaIt was seized in 2014.
It was created by a larger Russian army at the 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) front line. Slow but costly progress At the summer attack. According to UN estimates, the merciless throbbing of urban areas has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians.
“The question of the fact that Russians are in control at the moment is, effectively, a portion of Ukraine must be on the table,” NATO executive director Mark Latte told CBS on Sunday during peace talks after the Alaska Summit.
Latte said that Western supporters in Ukrainian “can never accept it in a legal sense,” but suggested that he may implicitly acknowledge Russian rule.
He compared it to the way the US hosted diplomatic missions in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania between 1940 and 1991, saying, “It acknowledges that the Soviet Union controls these territory, but in a legal sense (it does not accept it).”
It is almost impossible for Zelensky to sell it at home, especially without a ceasefire contract at first, after thousands of troops have died protecting the land.
Ultimately, Putin is seen by some analysts as less interested in the land itself, but rather in the more “Russian-friendly” Ukraine, which is less likely to try to join NATO, just like the Russian breakaway region. Georgia The quest to become a member of the country has become complicated.
Zelensky argues that a halt of the frontline fight should be the starting point for negotiations, and that Europeans will support him. They say future land swaps should be determined by Ukraine, not a prerequisite for a ceasefire.
Claims against the land are also part of negotiations regarding the types of security guarantees that Ukraine may receive to prevent another war from erupting.
Europeans believe that Kiev’s best defense is a powerful army to stop Russia from attacking again. They argue that the size of the Ukrainian army and that there is no limit to the equipment, weapons and ammunition that can be owned or sold.
Beyond that, they say that Ukraine should not be constrained by the choice of being forced to join the EU or become a neutral country. The Trump administration has already taken a membership in Ukraine’s NATO From the table In the near future.
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Associated Press author Dasha Litvinova and Jamey Keaten of Geneva contributed.
