(AFP) – Leaders of France, Germany, and Britain will host a video call on Sunday for their so-called “coalition of the willing” to discuss steps towards ending the war in Ukraine, after Donald Trump dropped his push for a ceasefire following his Alaska summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia’s invasion, had been one of the US president’s core demands before the summit, to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited. But after a meeting that yielded no clear breakthrough, Trump ruled out an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine—a move that would appear to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal. Ukraine and its European allies have criticized it as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances.
Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back from Alaska to Washington, stating afterward that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war.” Ceasefire agreements “often times do not hold up,” Trump added on his Truth Social platform. However, Zelensky, who is due to visit Washington on Monday, appeared unconvinced by the change of tack, noting on Saturday that it “complicates the situation.” He remarked that if Moscow lacks “the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater—peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades,” he said on social media.
Trump expressed support during his call with Zelensky and European leaders for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP. Putin “de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas,” which consists of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said. In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control. Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions, even though its troops still do not fully control any of them. “The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas,” the source added.
Trump notably also mentioned that the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as “significant progress.” However, there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to “drag out negotiations” with no commitment to end the bloodshed. “The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,” Kallas said.
The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky’s talks at the White House on Monday. An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend. The Ukrainian president’s last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid. Zelensky stated on Saturday, after a “substantive” conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit, that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing “all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”
In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin. “It’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump said.
In an earlier statement, European leaders welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Back in Moscow, Putin stated that his summit talks with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful.” In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any “behind-the-scenes intrigues” that could disrupt what he called “this emerging progress.”
– Shaun TANDON
© 2024 AFP
