EU pushes for Ukraine role in talks

EUROPEAN leaders at the weekend pushed for Ukraine to be a part of negotiations between the US and Russia, ahead of talks between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

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The two leaders will meet in the US state of Alaska Friday to try to resolve the three-year war, but the EU has insisted that Kyiv and European powers should be part of any deal to end the conflict.

The idea of a US-Russia meeting without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has raised concerns that a deal would require Kyiv to cede swaths of territory, which the EU has rejected.

EU foreign ministers were to discuss the talks in a meeting by video link yesterday, joined by their Ukrainian counterpart.

“The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and Finland and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement, urging Trump to put more pressure on Russia.

In a flurry of diplomacy, Zelenskiy held calls with 13 counterparts over three days including Kyiv’s main backers Germany, Britain and France.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at the weekend he hoped and assumed that Zelenskiy would attend the leaders’ summit.