Brussels, August 10 – European leaders are pushing to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump before his planned August 15 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Bloomberg reported, citing diplomatic sources. Their goal is to ensure that the interests of the EU and Ukraine are taken into account in any U.S.-Russia discussions.
EU foreign ministers will hold an online meeting on August 11 to coordinate their stance. The session was called by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who stressed that any agreement between Washington and Moscow on ending hostilities must include Kyiv and the EU.
European officials have already begun consultations. On August 9 in the UK, U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with European national security advisers, joined by Ukrainian officials Rustem Umerov and Andriy Yermak. The talks were briefed to EU ambassadors on Sunday.
In a joint statement overnight on August 10, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, along with EU and UK leaders, urged that Ukraine’s and the EU’s positions be incorporated into any peace framework.
Ukraine and its European allies insist on a ceasefire as the first step toward long-term settlement talks and advocate maintaining economic pressure on Moscow. According to The Wall Street Journal, Russia’s proposal includes Ukrainian territorial concessions and international recognition of territories under its control in exchange for a ceasefire. This would involve transferring the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to Russia and freezing the current front lines, including in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Putin has reiterated that Russia’s conditions, first outlined in June 2024, remain unchanged: withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv’s formal renunciation of NATO membership.
