“Europeans consider this deeply disturbing.” NATO and EU are trying to support Ukraine before Trump's meeting – Putin, Moscow is angry
The European capitals are afraid – and it is not for the first time – that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be able to divide NATO and get everything he wants in Ukraine. “We risk becoming a basement note,” a European diplomat told CNN before the meeting between Putin and Donald Trump will be held on Friday.
The fear of Europeans also comes from the fact that very little is known about what the Kremlin proposed to stop the battles in Ukraine. Putin did not give any details. American envoy Steve Witkoff did not say anything after his meeting with the Russian leader last Wednesday.
“Europeans consider this deeply disturbing”
Trump himself said after the departure of Witkoff from Moscow: “It is very complicated. We will recover some things, we will exchange others. Some exchanges will take place, for the benefit of both parties.”
Europeans are afraid that the “benefit of both parties” is a very unlikely result. There is no indication that Putin would have changed with his maximum claims-either territorial, or in maintaining Ukraine at the status of boxing bag for Russia-a country without security and with limits on the size and capabilities of its army.
“In Paris, Berlin or London, it is not considered that the occupation of someone else is of any importance for the current American administration, and Europeans find this deeply disturbing,” said the diplomat for American television.
US Vice President, Warning before Trump – Putin: The Peace Agreement in Ukraine will not thank any camp
Putin excludes the idea of Zelenski to come too in Alaska
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski on Sunday obtained the diplomatic support of Europe and NATO alliance before the Russia-Route meeting this week, in which Kiev is afraid that Trump could try to dictate the conditions for the end of the war, notes Reuters.
Trump, who for weeks threatened with new sanctions against Russia because he did not end the war, announced on Friday that he would meet Putin, on Friday, August 15, in Alaska.
A white house official said Trump is open to Zelenski's participation, but preparations are only for a bilateral meeting.
The Kremlin leader excluded the idea of meeting Zelenski last week, saying that the necessary conditions for such a meeting are “unfortunately far away” to be met.
The European leader who “assumes” that Zelenski will be present at the Trump-Putin summit
“Americans can force Russia to negotiate seriously”
Trump said that a potential agreement would involve “an exchange of territories for the benefit of both parties”, feeding the fears of Ukraine that it could be subject to pressures to give up territories.
Zelenski states that any decision made without Ukraine will be “dead born” and impossible to put into practice. On Saturday, leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission have said that any diplomatic solution should protect the security interests of Ukraine and Europe.
“The United States has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” the head of EU foreign policy on Sunday, Kaja Kallas. “Any agreement between the US and Russia should include Ukraine and the EU, because it is a matter of security of Ukraine and the whole of Europe,” she added.
The EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss the next steps, Kallas said.
The de facto recognition of Russian occupation, a variant
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the American network ABC News that Friday's summit will show what Putin's position is, “how serious it is in terms of this terrible war.”
He added: “It will, of course, be about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to recognize that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine must be a sovereign nation, which decides on its own geopolitical future.”
Rutte said that an agreement cannot include the legal recognition of Russian control over the Ukrainian territory, although it could include de facto recognition. Russia has almost one fifth of the country.
The leader NATO compared the situation with the one after World War II, when Washington accepted that the Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were de facto controlled by the Soviet Union, but did not legally recognize their annexation.
Moscow is angry on the involvement of Europe
Zelenski said on Sunday: “The end of the war must be fair and I am grateful to all those who are today with Ukraine and our people.”
A European official said that Europe came up with Trump's opposition, but refused to provide details. Russian officials have accused Europe of trying to threw Trump's efforts to end the war.
“The Euro-Imbecilii are trying to prevent American efforts to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev posted on Sunday on Sunday.
The spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zaharova, said in a virulent statement that the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union resembles “necrophilia”.
Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, said that Europe was reduced to the role of spectator. “If Putin and Trump reach a direct agreement, Europe will face a fulfilled fact. Kiev – the more,” he said.
