European Union member states said on Tuesday that Ukrainians must have the right to decide their own future, speaking ahead of Friday’s planned talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European leaders, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are set to speak with Trump on Wednesday before the Alaska summit, amid concerns that Washington until now Ukraine’s main arms supplier might push Kyiv into accepting unfavourable peace terms.
“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” read a joint statement from all EU countries except Hungary. “We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”
Russia pushes forward in eastern Ukraine
Trump has said any peace deal could involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine, alarming Kyiv and European capitals since all areas in question are Ukrainian.
Ukraine’s DeepState war map showed Russian forces advancing up to 10 km (six miles) in two thrusts near Dobropillia, close to their target city of Pokrovsk, in an effort to take full control of the Donetsk region.
Tatarigami_UA, a former Ukrainian officer who monitors the conflict, wrote on X that “in both 2014 and 2015, Russia launched major offensives ahead of negotiations to gain leverage. The current situation is serious, but far from the collapse some suggest.”
Ukraine’s military said it recaptured two villages in the eastern Sumy region on Monday — a rare gain after more than a year of slow Russian advances in the southeast. Russia has launched a fresh offensive in Sumy this year after Putin called for a “buffer zone” there.
Kyiv and its European allies fear Trump, eager to claim credit for brokering peace and fostering business ties with Moscow, could end up rewarding Russia for more than a decade of attempts to seize Ukrainian territory, including the last three years of open warfare.
EU ties Ukraine’s fate to its own security
“A Ukraine capable of defending itself effectively is an integral part of any future security guarantees,” the EU statement said, adding that member states were ready to contribute further to those guarantees.
Zelenskyy welcomed the declaration, warning that Russia was preparing new offensives. “We all support President Trump’s determination, and together we must shape positions that will not allow Russia to deceive the world once again,” he posted on X.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin’s closest ally in the EU, dismissed the statement from his counterparts, saying: “The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is sad enough. The only thing worse would be to start giving instructions from the bench.” He argued instead for an EU–Russia summit modelled on the planned U.S.–Russia meeting.
Trump has recently toughened his stance on Moscow, agreeing to send more U.S. weapons to Ukraine and threatening steep trade tariffs on Russian oil buyers, though that ultimatum has now expired.
Still, the planned Putin visit for the first U.S.–Russia summit since 2021 has revived fears in Europe that Trump might prioritise narrow U.S. interests over the security of allies or wider geopolitical stability.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that 70,000 security forces would be mobilised th...
Israel has ordered security forces to seal off Hebron and prepare a full closure of the West Bank after a shooting near the city wounded at le...
Romanian authorities are searching for missing crew members following an incident involving a ship in the Black Sea. Romanian President Nicusor Dan...
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
If you tried to visit a government website in Europe on Wednesday and found it down, you weren’t alone. Agencies across the continent pulled their sites offline after serious security flaws were discovered in PHP, the programming language quietly running behind most of the world’s websites.
Israel has ordered security forces to seal off Hebron and prepare a full closure of the West Bank after a shooting near the city wounded at least five Israelis. Soldiers killed the two gunmen.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that 70,000 security forces would be mobilised throughout the country to keep order on Saturday, adding there have been calls for looting and violence from the ultra-left.
Missile and drone attacks have put Saudi Arabia on high alert, disrupting life in Riyadh and testing a new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan as regional tensions escalate.
Romanian authorities are searching for missing crew members following an incident involving a ship in the Black Sea. Romanian President Nicusor Dan attributed the incident to Russian escalation.
From Typhoon Champi in Taiwan and a deadly earthquake in Tibet to severe flooding across Europe and Latin America, communities on several continents have faced a week of devastating weather and natural disasters.
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