European leaders are gathering behind Ukraine with the opening of the White House to invite Zelinski to the Trump Putin meeting

A coalition from European countries gathered behind Ukraine on Saturday, saying Russia’s war of Ukraine It cannot be resolved without Kiev, before a planned meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was not currently scheduled to include the leader of Ukraine.

the statement“The road to peace in Ukraine cannot be determined without Ukraine.”

The group emphasized the need for “fair and permanent peace” Kiev, including “strong and reliable” security guarantees.

“Ukraine is free to choose its fate,” the statement said. “It is not possible to make meaningful negotiations except in the context of the ceasefire or limiting hostilities,” the statement said.

The statement issued by senior European leaders-who also said that they “welcome President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine-after Mr. Trump announced that he would meet with Putin individual in Alaska on Friday, August 15, after that Weeks of our pressure Russia should cut off the ceasefire deal. It is the first face -to -face meeting between Putin and an American leader since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022.

Two sources told CBS News on Saturday that Mr. Trump is still ready to meet in partnership with Zelinski and Putin – but the meeting is still bilateral, as Putin requested.

Mr. Trump also said last week that he expected some land exchange between Ukraine and Russia. The Russian army occupies large parts of eastern Ukraine and Russia It has indicated It wants Ukraine to abandon those areas – which Zelinski paid.

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

Zelenskyy thanks to the Europeans for their statement, He said in a post on X He is “grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.” Ukrainian president previously It was ignored from the planned Putin’s top, where she wrote that any peace deal that excludes Ukraine “will never succeed.”

Meanwhile, Vice Vice President JD Vance met on Saturday with senior European and Ukrainian officials in the residence of the British Foreign Minister at the end of the week to discuss how to end the war.

Trump Putin’s meeting may prove a pivotal in a war that started when Russia invaded its western neighbor and led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there is no guarantee that it will stop the fighting because Moscow and KYIV are still far from their circumstances for peace.

A batch of value one month before the United States has proven to achieve a truce in Ukraine so far that it is not fruitful, with Kiev’s approval in principle while Moscow has withstood its conditions more according to its desire.

Mr. Trump has also raised an alert to impose additional sanctions on Russia and the introduction of a secondary tariff targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move towards a settlement. The deadline was on Friday. The White House did not answer the questions on Saturday about possible sanctions.

The Kremlin repeated earlier this week, demanding that Ukraine be abandoned, and to give up its attempt to join NATO and accept the border on its army, in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian forces from the rest of the country.

Zelinski said on Saturday that Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it did” and that “the Ukrainians will not give their lands to the occupier.”

The former Ukrainian officials told the Associated Press that Kiev would be capable of a peace deal that would recognize the reality of Ukraine’s inability to regain the lands missing militarily. But Zelinski on Saturday insisted that the land was not possible.