European leaders rally behind Ukraine as White House open to inviting Zelenskyy to Trump-Putin meeting

A coalition of European nations rallied behind Ukraine on Saturday, saying the Russia-Ukraine war can’t be resolved without Kyiv, ahead of a planned meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that currently isn’t set to include Ukraine’s leader.

The statement, signed by the president of the European Union and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the United Kingdom, stated that the “path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

The group stressed the need for a “just and lasting peace” for Kyiv, including “robust and credible” security guarantees.

“Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny. Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the statement said.

The statement by top European leaders — who also said they “welcome President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine — came after Mr. Trump announced he would meet with Putin one-on-one in Alaska on Friday, Aug. 15, following weeks of U.S. pressure on Russia to cut a ceasefire deal. It’s the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and an American leader since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022.

Two sources told CBS News Saturday that Mr. Trump is still willing to meet jointly with Zelenskyy and Putin — but the meeting currently remains bilateral, as Putin requested. 

Mr. Trump also said last week that he expects “some swapping of territories” between Ukraine and Russia. The Russian military occupies large parts of eastern Ukraine, and Russia has indicated that it wants Ukraine to cede those territories — which Zelenskyy has pushed back on.

The Europeans wrote in their statement: “We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force. The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”

Zelenskyy thanked the Europeans for their statement, saying in a post on X that he is “grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.” The Ukrainian president previously brushed off the planned Putin-Trump summit, writing that any peace deal that excludes Ukraine “will never work.”

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with top European and Ukrainian officials at the British Foreign Secretary’s weekend residence to discuss how to end the war.

The Trump-Putin meeting may prove pivotal in a war that began when Russia invaded its western neighbor and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there’s no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.

A monthlong U.S.-led push to achieve a truce in Ukraine has so far proved fruitless, with Kyiv agreeing in principle while Moscow has held out for terms more to its liking.

Mr. Trump had also moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. The White House did not answer questions on Saturday about possible sanctions.

The Kremlin earlier this week reiterated demands that Ukraine give up territory, abandon its bid to join NATO and accept limits on its military, in exchange for a withdrawal of Russian troops from the rest of the country.

Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done” and that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”

Ukrainian officials previously told the Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognize Ukraine’s inability to regain lost territories militarily. But Zelenskyy on Saturday insisted that formally ceding land was out of the question.