Day after Alaska

European leaders promise to continue to support Ukraine. The media write that Putin wants to get the whole of Donbass

Soon after a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Donald Trump contacted Vladimir Zelensky, and then with European leaders. In Brussels, Paris, Berlin and London, the US actions were positively appreciated, but they emphasized that Ukraine still needs security guarantees.

That per day it became known about the summit in Anchorida, as well as the opinion of the European Union and the reaction in Ukraine - in the material of Novaya Gazeta Europe.

US President Donald Trump, following a meeting with Vladimir Putin, wrote on his social network Truth Social about "a wonderful and very successful day in Alaska." According to him, “very good” was not only the summit itself, but also a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, “including the extremely respected secretary of NATO.”

“Everyone came to the conclusion that the best way to put an end to the terrible war between Russia and Ukraine is to move directly to a peace agreement, and not just conclude an agreement on the end of fire, which is often not implemented,” Trump said, adding that Zelensky would arrive in the Oval Cabinet in Washington on the afternoon of August 18. “If everything goes well, we will agree on a meeting with President Putin,” the American leader wrote.

Such a statement by Trump diverges sharply from the strategy that he agreed, European allies and Zelensky even before the summit in Alaska. The President of Ukraine insisted many times: first it is necessary to stop shooting and only after that negotiations about the world are possible. Trump himself spoke about this even on the way to Alaska:

In a conversation with Fox News, he talked about the desire to conclude such an agreement based on the results of the summit in Anchorida. “I will be unhappy if I leave [from the meeting] without any form of ceasefire,” said the American leader.

So, notes The New York Times, the refusal of the US President to discuss specific conditions for the ceasefire actually gives Russia an advantage in future negotiations. In addition, although Trump confidently writes about the possibility of a tripartite summit, the very fact of the meeting of Zelensky and Putin is in question.

Europe supports Ukraine and recalls security guarantees

The heads of France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Poland, as well as the Chairman of the European Council Antoniu Kosta and the chairman of the European Commission Ursul von der Lyain, welcomed Trump's efforts to stop the war in Ukraine and expressed their readiness to conduct a common summit with the US President and the President of Ukraine.

“We clearly declare that Ukraine should have reliable security guarantees to effectively protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome the statement by President Trump on US readiness to provide security guarantees. The Coalition of Goodwill (in the original - Coalition of the Willing) is ready to play an active role. There should be no restrictions for the Ukrainian army and cooperation of Ukraine with third countries. Russia cannot impose a veto on the path of Ukraine to join the EU and NATO. Ukraine will make decisions about its territory. International borders should not change by force, ”the joint statement said .

European leaders promised that they would continue to support Ukraine. And, according to them, while the murders of Ukrainians continue, the EU will increase sanctions and expand economic measures to provide pressure on Russian funds for warfare.

On the afternoon of August 17, the “Coalition of Goodwill” will hold a meeting in a video conference format along with Emmanuel Macron, Kirmer and Friedrich Mertz, the Champs Elysees said.

The previous meeting of the coalition took place on August 13. After him, the leaders emphasized that the termination of the war in Ukraine cannot be discussed without the participation of Ukraine itself. In a separate statement, the Chairman of the European Council Antoniu Coshta said that President Trump, during a working meeting with European leaders, shared three important moments: “Firstly, a ceasefire. Secondly, the principle according to which only Ukraine can negotiate on issues regarding Ukraine, and, finally, the willingness of the United States to cooperate with Europe to strengthen security after achieving a fair and strong world in Ukraine. ”

After the meeting of Trump and Putin, the US President first talked on the phone with the President of Ukraine, and then European leaders joined the conversation. According to the Prime Minister of Italy George Meloni, as well as CNN and The Telegraph , it was a question of “type” of Article 5 of the NATO Charter with the support of Europe and the United States in the event of a peace agreement. This article is devoted to the principle of collective defense: an attack on one of the alliance members is considered an attack on all NATO participants.

However, the North Atlantic Alliance “will not participate in guarantees”, the source of CNN said. The details of this option are unknown, and how guarantees will be implemented is still unclear.

The Bloomberg publication, citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation, reported : Trump handed Zelensky that Putin's position had not changed-he still wants Kiev to give Moscow control over the entire Donbass.

The Wall Street Journal previously assumed that according to the results of the summit, Russia could officially control the Donbass in exchange for the withdrawal of its troops from other units of Ukraine.

According to the anonymous sources of Bloomberg, in Europe they worry that Trump will put pressure on Zelensky so that he goes to territorial concessions - in this way the American leader may try to make peace as soon as possible. Zelensky has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine does not intend to abandon the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which are now partially occupied by Russian troops.

Moscow, according to Bloomberg sources, is ready to abandon claims to those areas of the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions that are now under the control of Kyiv. So Putin expects to actually fix the front line where it takes place today, the interlocutors of the publication say.

On Saturday, August 16, the ambassadors of all 27 EU member countries gathered at an extraordinary meeting to discuss the further steps of the block, Politico reports with reference to two European diplomats who spoke on anonymity conditions.

According to the publication, the messengers met in a “limited format” - without assistants and phones to avoid information leaks. Representatives of the Trump administration during the event told the diplomats that Russia was insisting on territorial concessions, but the Kremlin has not yet given any specific data. According to Politico interlocutors, Moscow also wants a “guarantee of the role of the Russian language and the security of Russian churches in Ukraine”.

The vice president of the European Commission, Kai Callas, said in X: “ The determination of President Trump is very important to conclude a peace agreement. The EU and our European partners coordinated their actions with President Trump on the eve of a meeting in Alaska. But the harsh reality is that Russia does not intend to stop this war in the near future. ”

In the statement transmitted by Politico, she expressed confidence in the need for tougher measures to force Moscow to sit down at the negotiating table.

The President of the European Parliament Robert Metsol writes that “the future for Ukraine should be in the strong world”: “The European Parliament welcomes the efforts and interaction of the American president with European leaders on the eve of the meeting with the President of Zelensky in the White House on Monday.”

British Prime Minister Cyrus Starmer spoke about his own position, mainly repeating the general statement of European leaders. In his opinion, Trump's efforts “brought us closer than ever, to the end of the Russian illegal war in Ukraine.” At the same time, he promised to continue to put pressure on Russia with additional sanctions.

The German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz promised that Kiev “could count on our unshakable solidarity in the work to achieve the world, which will ensure the vital interests of Ukraine and European in the field of security”.

Ukraine insists: first the ceasefire, then negotiations

According to Trump, Putin is “ready for a tripartite meeting” with Zelensky. CNN writes about this with reference to an unnamed European official. The President of Ukraine told the US President that if such a meeting did not take place, it is worthwhile to strengthen sanctions against Russia.

“The killings should stop as soon as possible, the fire must be stopped both on Earth and in the sky, including attacks on our port infrastructure. All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian must be released, and children taken out by Russia should return. Thousands of our people remain in captivity - all of them must be released. The pressure on Russia should intensify while aggression and occupation continues, ”Zelensky wrote on the social network X.

The Economist correspondent Oliver Carroll wrote that a preliminary agreement on the ceasefire in the air was reached before the meeting of the leaders of the three countries. The adviser to Zelensky Dmitry Litvin publicly answered him on the social network: "We do not know anything about this yet."

The head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy of Ukraine and Inter -Parliamentary Cooperation, Alexander Merezhko, told Reuters that after the summit, in his opinion, little changed: “As we expected, nothing happened. No results, and everyone remains in their opinion. Putin did not depart from his ultimatum, Trump wanted to show that he was a master to conclude transactions, but he did not succeed. " Merezhko also said that reception in Alaska actually led Putin from many years of isolation.

Ukraine still believes that at first there should be a ceasefire, and then a further negotiation process, said the adviser to the head of the administration of the President of Zelensky Sergey Leshchenko.

“Because if we are negotiating before the ceasefire, this creates great risks of blackmail for Ukraine. Because if there is a ceasefire, the space for diplomacy opens, ”he explained.