Before the Trump-Puttine summit, Europeans want “pressure” on Moscow: “We greet the work of the American president”

War in Ukraine: the Kremlin expects “very complicated” negotiations with kyiv in Istanbul

“We welcome President Trump’s work to stop the massacre in Ukraine” and “are ready to support this diplomatic work as well as in now on our substantial military and financial support for Ukraine” and “by maintaining and imposing restrictive measures against the Russian Federation”, said French leaders Emmanuel Macron, Italian Giorgia Meloni, German Friedrich Merz, Polish Donald Tusk, British Keir Starmer and Finnish Alex Stubb, as well as the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

“The way of peace in Ukraine cannot be drawn without Ukraine. Consequently, ” they added recalling their attachment “to the principle that international borders should not be modified by force” and specifying that “the current contact line (front line) should be the starting point for negotiations”.

A settlement of the conflict will include exchanges of territories “for the benefit of each. ” said Donald Trump on Friday, without giving more details.

War in Ukraine: Trump confirms that he will meet Putin. makes an important announcement

“We are talking about a territory on which fights have been raging for over three and a half years (…), it’s complicated,” he said in the White House.

The American president. who has repeatedly promised to put an end to the war in Ukraine, has spoke several times on the phone with his Russian counterpart in recent months but has not yet seen him in person since his return to business on January 20.

War in Ukraine: Zelensky reiterates his call for a face-to-face meeting with Putin