European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are holding talks to increase pressure on the U.S. President Donald Trump before his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this Friday. The goal is to ensure that Trump does not make any decisions about Ukraine without its involvement, especially changes to its borders by force. During an online call with Trump on Wednesday, leaders are expected to stress that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected. This comes after Trump suggested that a peace deal could involve “some swapping of territories,” a comment that has

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are holding talks to increase pressure on the U.S. President Donald Trump before his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this Friday. The goal is to ensure that Trump does not make any decisions about Ukraine without its involvement, especially changes to its borders by force. During an online call with Trump on Wednesday, leaders are expected to stress that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected. This comes after Trump suggested that a peace deal could involve “some swapping of territories,” a comment that has raised alarm in Kyiv and across Europe. ALSO READ: Trump to urge Putin to return territory to Ukraine in Friday talks It is believed that one of Putin’s key demands could be for Ukraine to surrender the parts of eastern Donbas that it still controls. On Tuesday, Zelensky warned that such a concession could encourage further Russian attacks in the future. No official details have been confirmed about Putin’s demands for the Anchorage meeting, but European allies remain concerned that Trump might accept a deal allowing Russia to redraw Ukraine’s borders by force. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has organized Wednesday’s meeting, with Zelensky traveling to Berlin to join the call. Other participants will include UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and several European leaders. Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that Ukrainians will not “gift their land to the occupier” and has pointed to the country’s constitution, which requires a public referendum before any change in territory. Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls just under 20% of its territory. The Donbas region made up of Luhansk and Donetsk has been partly occupied since 2014. Moscow now holds almost all of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk. Speaking to reporters this week, Zelensky reaffirmed that Ukraine will reject any proposal to abandon Donbas.

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