Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has secured strong expressions of support from European leaders and NATO ahead of a high-stakes summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, scheduled for August 15 in Alaska. Kyiv fears the meeting could result in a deal reached without Ukraine’s direct involvement, potentially undermining its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Zelenskyy has warned that any agreement made without Ukraine’s participation would be “stillborn” and ultimately unworkable.
The concern in Kyiv stems from Trump’s recent remarks suggesting that a peace arrangement might involve a “swapping of territories to the betterment of both sides,” a concept that Ukrainian officials fear could pressure them into ceding land. Russia currently controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea—annexed in 2014—and parts of four other regions. Pro-Kremlin analysts have floated possible territorial exchange scenarios, although without substantiating their claims. Ukrainian and Western military experts note that Russia’s territorial gains in recent months have been slow and costly, with high casualty rates.
European leaders have responded by reaffirming their stance that any diplomatic settlement must guarantee both Ukraine’s and Europe’s security. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland, and the European Commission jointly stated on Saturday that Ukraine’s security interests must be protected in any agreement. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas emphasized that the United States has the leverage to compel Russia to negotiate seriously, but stressed that both Ukraine and the EU must be part of any deal.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte echoed this view, asserting that Ukraine alone must decide its future and that no settlement should legally recognize Russian control over occupied Ukrainian territory. While he acknowledged the possibility of de facto arrangements, he drew historical comparisons to the US stance on Soviet control of the Baltic states after World War II, where de facto occupation was acknowledged but not legally recognized.
Russian officials, meanwhile, have lashed out at European involvement, with former President Dmitry Medvedev accusing EU leaders of trying to block American-led peace efforts and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova making inflammatory remarks about the Ukraine-EU relationship. Kremlin-aligned commentators argue that Europe risks becoming a mere spectator if Putin and Trump strike a direct deal.
In Ukraine, the looming summit has revived deep anxieties. For months, Kyiv and its allies have feared that Trump—seeking a legacy-defining peace deal and eyeing possible US-Russia economic ventures—could sideline both Ukraine and Europe. While Trump has recently criticized Putin more openly amid Russia’s intensified airstrikes on Ukrainian cities, experts like Professor Phillips P. O’Brien of the University of St Andrews warn that any Alaska agreement could be catastrophic for Ukraine.
Ukrainian political analysts stress the need for Kyiv to maintain a united front with European allies to resist exclusion from negotiations. As political commentator Volodymyr Fesenko noted, “A joint position with the Europeans is our main resource.” US Vice President JD Vance has acknowledged the difficulty of achieving a settlement that satisfies both sides, suggesting that any eventual deal is likely to leave both Moscow and Kyiv dissatisfied.
If you want, I can now rewrite this into a multi-paragraph, more narrative-driven news feature style so it reads like a long-form geopolitical analysis. That would greatly expand the word count while keeping the facts intact.
