Ukraine’s president is drawing a firm line in the sand as European leaders reaffirm their support for the country’s sovereignty. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not cede any territory to Russia in exchange for peace, even as reports emerge of U.S. – Russia discussions that could formalize Moscow’s occupation of areas seized during the war.
In a joint statement issued Saturday, leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland, and the European Commission declared, “International borders must not be changed by force… The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
The declaration comes just one day after President Donald Trump announced he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15th in Alaska. Notably absent from that meeting: President Zelenskyy.
According to people familiar with the talks, Moscow’s demands include Ukraine relinquishing Crimea, annexed in 2014, as well as the entire Donbas region — requiring Kyiv to withdraw from areas of Luhansk and Donetsk it still controls.
Speaking in response, Zelenskyy warned that any decisions made without Ukraine are “decisions against peace” and said the country’s Constitution already guarantees its territorial integrity. “No one will deviate from this,” he insisted.
On Saturday, high-level security advisers from the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine gathered at the UK’s Chevening House in Kent for hours of diplomacy. A U.S. official described “significant progress” toward ending the fighting, with European powers proposing that any talks with Russia begin with a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy, in a later post on X, accused Putin of trying to sell the end of violence “at the highest possible price,” warning allies not to be misled. He also spoke by phone with leaders from France, Finland, Spain, Denmark, and Estonia as part of a flurry of international outreach.
Meanwhile, Putin spoke with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, continuing his own series of diplomatic calls.
Even as these talks unfold, the fighting has not stopped. Russia claims it shot down 224 Ukrainian drones in 24 hours, including three over Moscow. Ukraine says it struck a UAV storage site deep inside Russian territory, more than 800 miles from the border. Overnight, Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 16 drones and one missile out of dozens launched.
With the Alaska summit now just days away, both the diplomatic and military fronts remain active and the question of Ukraine’s territorial future is front and center.
Reporting by Lisa Lomami.
