Europe’s sidelined leaders urge Trump to defend security interests at his summit with Putin
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders appealed on Tuesday to U.S. President Donald Trump to defend their security interests at a summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this week over the war in Ukraine, desperate to exert influence over the meeting from which they have been sidelined.
Russian forces appeared to be on the verge of making a key territorial grab ahead of Friday’s summit, potentially to use as leverage in any peace negotiations.
Seeking Trump’s ear before the summit
It remains unclear whether even Ukraine will take part in the summit. Trump has said that he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year.
Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying that Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said that Russia must accept land swaps, although it remains unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.
The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the EU, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Attorney General Pam Bondi look on. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
European countries’ overarching fear is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.
In a statement early Tuesday, the leaders said that they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they underlined, “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine” and “international borders must not be changed by force.”
The Europeans on Wednesday will make a fresh attempt to rally Trump to Ukraine’s cause at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump did not confirm whether he would take part, but he did say: “I’m going to get everybody’s ideas” before meeting with Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the idea that Ukraine must commit to giving up land to secure a ceasefire. Russia holds shaky control over four of the country’s regions, two in the country’s east and two in the south.
Zelenskyy on Monday thanked European leaders for their support and urged for more pressure on Moscow, saying that “we see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Zelenskyy’s office, said anything short of Russia’s strategic defeat would mean that any ceasefire deal would be on Moscow’s terms, erode international law and send a dangerous signal to the world.
Russia closes in on a major city
Russia appeared close to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, as its forces were reported to be rapidly infiltrating positions north of Pokrovsk.
Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles said the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important battlefield victory ahead of the summit. It would also complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of its military efforts.
“A lot will depend on availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,” Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote on social media late Monday.
Ukraine’s military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region’s Ukrainian military command posted on social media Monday acknowledged that the situation remains “difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on social media. Soldiers rushing to shelters were hit with cluster munitions, according to the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
Putin’s public rehabilitation
Trump’s seemingly public rehabilitation of Putin — a pariah in most of Europe — has unnerved Ukraine’s backers.
Trump also has been critical of Zelenskyy, noting that Ukraine’s leader had been in power for the duration of the war and said “nothing happened” during that time. He contrasted that with Putin, who has wielded power unchallenged in Russia for decades.
It’s unclear whether the Europeans also were unsettled by Trump mistakenly saying twice he would be traveling to Russia on Friday to meet Putin. The summit is taking place in the U.S. state of Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the U.S. in a land deal in 1867.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, center, attends a cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Tuesday’s European joint statement was meant to be a demonstration of unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin’s closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, was the only one of the bloc’s 27 leaders who refused to endorse it.
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Associated Press writers Samya Kullab and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed to this report.