EU leaders urge Trump to defend Europe's security interests at his upcoming summit with Putin

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders appealed on Tuesday to U.S. President Donald Trump to defend their security interests at a key summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later this week over the war in Ukraine.

The Europeans are desperate to exert some influence over the meeting from which they have been sidelined. It remains unclear whether even Ukraine will take part. Trump has said that he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year.

But Trump has disappointed U.S. allies in Europe by saying that Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said that Russia must accept land swaps, although it remains unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.

In a statement early on Tuesday, the leaders said that they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they underlined, “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

“A just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force,” they said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the idea that Ukraine must commit to giving up land to secure a ceasefire. Russia holds shaky control over four of the country's regions, two in the country’s east and two in the south.

Zelenskyy on Monday thanked European leaders for their support and urged for more diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow as long as “they continue the war and occupation.”

“We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war,” Zelenskyy posted on Telegram. “On the contrary, they are carrying out movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations. Under such conditions, it is important that nothing threatens the unity of the world.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Zelenskyy’s office, said anything short of Russia’s strategic defeat would mean that any ceasefire deal would be on Moscow’s terms, erode international law, and send a dangerous signal to the world.

Putin’s ultimate goal is to “eliminate Ukraine as a sovereign state by dismantling its military, foreign policy and right to self-determination," Podolyak said on Telegram.

In Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on Telegram. Soldiers rushing to shelters were hit with cluster munitions, according to the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

Meanwhile, Russia appeared close to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, as its forces were reported to be rapidly infiltrating positions north of Pokrovsk.

Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles say the next 24 to 48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important battlefield victory ahead of the summit. It would also complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of its military efforts.

“A lot will depend on availability, quantity, and quality of Ukrainian reserves,” Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote in a post on X late Monday.

Ukraine's military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region's Ukrainian military command posted on Facebook Monday that enemy soldiers penetrating Ukrainian lines to capture more territory "face inevitable death” but acknowledges that the situation remains “difficult, unpleasant, and dynamic.”

On Monday, Trump repeated that “there’ll be some land swapping going on.” He said that this would involve “some bad stuff for both” Ukraine and Russia. 

The Europeans will make a fresh attempt to rally Trump to Ukraine’s cause on Wednesday at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump did not confirm whether he would take part, but he did say: “I’m going to get everybody’s ideas” before meeting with Putin.

Tuesday’s statement was also meant to be a demonstration of European unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin’s closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, did not endorse it. He was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders who refused to do so.