European leaders pledge to back Ukraine, keep up pressure on Russia

OSLO - A group of European leaders on Aug 16 jointly pledged to continue support for Ukraine and to maintain pressure on Russia, following a summit in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy until there is a just and lasting peace,” they said in a joint statement.

The statement was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, after they were briefed by Mr Trump on his talks with Mr Putin.

Mr Trump called these leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from Air Force One to brief them, following a summit in Alaska between him and Mr Putin on Aug 15.

Mr Starmer hailed Mr Trump’s efforts as bringing “us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.

“While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks” involving Mr Zelensky, Mr Starmer said in a statement.

Mr Macron said in a post on social media platform X that support for Kyiv and pressure on Russia needed to continue until “a solid and durable peace” is achieved in Ukraine.

He called for “unbreakable” security guarantees for any future peace deal, and cautioned against what he said was Russia’s “well-documented tendency to not keep its own commitments”.

Dr Von der Leyen also said in a post on X that strong security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe were “essential” in any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

“The EU is working closely with Zelensky and the United States to reach a just and lasting peace. Strong security guarantees that protect Ukrainian and European vital security interests are essential,” she said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X: “Putin must understand the consequences of dragging out his war. He has lied too many times in the past and completely devalued his word. Only his actions are real indicators of whether he is truly willing to end his terror and aggression.”

The Europeans reiterated that it would be up to Ukraine to make decisions concerning its territories.

“We must continue to put pressure on Russia, and even increase it, to give a clear signal to Russia that it must pay the price (for its invasion of Ukraine),” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told reporters in Oslo.

“We must listen to Ukraine’s wishes and needs. We know that President Putin wants to split Europe and the United States. We must do everything we can to avoid that,” he added.

The talks in Alaska showed that the Russian president is not looking for peace and wants to weaken Western unity, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said.

“The Trump-Putin talks in Alaska did not bring significant progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, but they confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but rather an opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda,” she wrote on X, adding that the West must continue supporting Ukraine.

She said the Alaska summit was “nevertheless important, among other things, because it reveals the true motives and mindset of Vladimir Putin”.

Mr Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that, on the face of it, little has changed after the summit.

“As we expected, nothing happened. No results, and everyone stands their ground. Putin did not back down from his ultimatum, Trump wanted to show that he is a great dealmaker, but he failed,” he said.

But Mr Merezhko said he was worried that Mr Putin effectively emerged from his years-long isolation from the West, though Ukraine seemingly avoided the “worst-case scenario”, as it was not being coerced into a deal involving crushing concessions.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of Mr Putin, took a more optimistic tone.

“For years, we have watched the two largest nuclear powers eliminate the framework of their cooperation and send messages to each other,” Mr Orban wrote on Facebook. “It’s over now. The world is a safer place today than it was yesterday.” REUTERS, AFP