European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, speaking on Sunday, delivered a firm warning ahead of the upcoming U.S.–Russia summit: any deal brokered between Washington and Moscow must include Ukraine and the EU, emphasizing that their exclusion risks undermining the security of the entire continent. She stressed that international law unequivocally affirms Ukraine’s ownership of its temporarily occupied territories and cautioned that a deal should not become a platform for renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine, the transatlantic alliance, or Europe. To coordinate a unified European response, Kallas has called for an emergency session of EU foreign ministers on Monday, with the situation in Gaza also on the agenda.
European capitals echoed Kallas’s message, issuing a joint declaration insisting that peace negotiations on Ukraine must include Kyiv directly and uphold its territorial integrity. Leaders from France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, and Finland emphasized the indispensable role of Ukraine in any sustainable resolution and reaffirmed their commitment to providing military and financial support. Simultaneously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy secured backing from both the EU and NATO ahead of the planned Alaska summit, underlining Kyiv’s demand to be part of any deal-making process and warning that agreements made without Ukraine’s consent would lack legitimacy.
While a U.S.–Russia meeting scheduled in Alaska for August 15 is intended to pursue a ceasefire, the specter of territorial concessions remains deeply contentious. President Trump has floated the idea of territorial swaps, though Zelenskiy has categorically rejected such proposals, stating that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier” . European officials, while cautiously receptive to the possibility of peace, remain wary that sidelining Ukraine or endorsing Russia’s demands could dismantle the post-World War II security architecture in Europe.
