Zelenskyy wins EU, NATO backing as he seeks place at desk with Trump and Putin

[ad_1] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gained backing from Europe and NATO on Sunday as he rallied diplomatic assist. It comes forward of a Russia-U.S. summit this week, the place Kyiv fears Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump might attempt to dictate phrases for ending the three-and-a-half-year struggle.

Trump, who for weeks had been threatening new sanctions towards Russia for failing to halt the battle, introduced as an alternative final Friday that he would maintain the Aug. 15 summit with Putin in Alaska.

A White Home official mentioned on Saturday that Trump was open to Zelenskyy's attendance, however that the present preparations have been for a bilateral assembly with Putin.

The Kremlin chief final week dominated out assembly Zelenskyy, saying the situations for such an encounter have been "sadly nonetheless far" from being met.

Trump mentioned a possible deal would contain "some swapping of territories to the betterment of each [sides]," an announcement that compounded Ukrainian alarm that it might face strain to give up extra land. Zelenskyy says any choices taken with out Ukraine can be "stillborn" and unworkable.

Potential of Russia-U.S. deal On Saturday, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Fee mentioned that any diplomatic resolution should defend the safety pursuits of Ukraine and Europe.

"The U.S. has the facility to pressure Russia to barter significantly," EU international coverage chief Kaja Kallas mentioned on Sunday.

EU international ministers will meet on Monday to debate subsequent steps, she mentioned.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance mentioned in a Fox Information interview {that a} negotiated settlement between Russia and Ukraine is unlikely to fulfill both aspect, and any peace deal will probably depart each Moscow and Kyiv "sad."

He mentioned the U.S. is aiming for a settlement each nations can settle for.

NATO Secretary Common Mark Rutte informed ABC Information that Friday's summit "can be about testing Putin, how severe he's on bringing this horrible struggle to an finish."

"Will probably be, after all, about safety ensures, but in addition concerning the absolute have to acknowledge that Ukraine decides by itself future, that Ukraine needs to be a sovereign nation, deciding by itself geopolitical future."

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, now holds almost a fifth of the nation.

Rutte mentioned a future peace deal couldn't embody authorized recognition of Russian management over Ukrainian land, though it would embody de facto recognition.

He in contrast it to the scenario after the Second World Warfare when the US accepted that the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have been de facto managed by the Soviet Union, however didn't legally acknowledge their annexation.

Russian officers criticize Europe Zelenskyy mentioned on Sunday, "The tip of the struggle should be truthful, and I'm grateful to everybody who stands with Ukraine and our individuals right this moment."

WATCH | Trump, Putin set to satisfy in Alaska: CBC's Heather Hiscox speaks to Andrew Rasiulis concerning the newest on a Trump-Putin assembly

Andrew Rasiulis, a fellow with the Canadian World Affairs Institute and a retired Division of Nationwide Defence official, joins us to speak concerning the newest information {that a} Trump-Putin assembly might occur within the subsequent week, and what the Witkoff-Putin assembly alerts. A European official mentioned Europe had give you a counterproposal to Trump's, however declined to supply particulars. Russian officers accused Europe of attempting to thwart Trump's efforts to finish the struggle.

"The Euro-imbeciles try to forestall American efforts to assist resolve the Ukrainian battle," former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media on Sunday.

Russian International Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned in a vituperative assertion that the connection between Ukraine and the European Union resembled "necrophilia."

Roman Alekhin, a Russian struggle blogger, mentioned Europe had been lowered to the function of a spectator.

"If Putin and Trump attain an settlement immediately, Europe can be confronted with a fait accompli. Kyiv, much more so," he mentioned.

Captured territory No particulars of the proposed territorial swap to which Trump alluded have been formally introduced.

Along with Crimea, which it seized in 2014, Russia has formally claimed the Ukrainian areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its personal, though it controls solely about 70 per cent of the final three. It holds smaller items of territory in three different areas, whereas Ukraine says it holds a sliver of Russia's Kursk area.

Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, mentioned a swap might entail Russia handing over 1,500 sq. kilometres to Ukraine and acquiring 7,000 sq. kilometres, which he mentioned Russia would seize anyway inside about six months.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Two men sit in front of flags." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7605440.1754841625!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-trump.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.4993646759847523" data-cy="image-img"/> U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a gathering on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague on June 25. Zelenskyy gained backing from Europe and NATO on Sunday as he rallied diplomatic assist forward of a Russia-U.S. summit this week. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout by way of Reuters) He supplied no proof to again these figures. Russia took solely about 500 sq. kilometres of territory in July, based on Western army analysts, who say its grinding advances have come at the price of very excessive casualties.

Ukraine and its European allies have been haunted for months by the worry that Trump, eager to assert credit score for making peace and hoping to seal profitable joint enterprise offers between the U.S. and Russia, might align with Putin to chop a deal that might be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv.

They'd drawn some encouragement recently as Trump, having piled heavy strain on Zelenskyy and berated him publicly within the Oval Workplace in February, started criticizing Putin. Russia has not too long ago pounded Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities with its heaviest air assaults of the struggle.

However the impending Putin-Trump summit, agreed to throughout a visit to Moscow by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff final week, has revived fears that Kyiv and Europe might be sidelined.

"What we are going to see emerge from Alaska will virtually actually be a disaster for Ukraine and Europe," wrote Phillips P. O'Brien, professor of strategic research on the College of St Andrews in Scotland.

"And Ukraine will face probably the most horrible dilemma. Do they settle for this humiliating and damaging deal? Or do they go it alone, not sure of the backing of European states?"

Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko mentioned on Ukrainian radio on Sunday that Kyiv's partnership with its European allies was vital to countering any makes an attempt to maintain it away from the desk.