EU leaders say Ukraine should have freedom to decide its future

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.

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