Ukraine and its backers in Europe insist that the United States and Russia cannot decide on a land swap behind their backs at this week's summit, but Europeans acknowledge that Moscow is unlikely to give up control of Ukrainian lands it holds, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Ahead of a summit in Alaska on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that a peace deal could include "some sort of land swap," but Europeans see no sign that Russia will offer anything in return. Europeans and Ukrainians have not yet been invited to the summit.
European Union foreign ministers met on Tuesday after talks on Ukraine between U.S. and European security advisers over the weekend. They are wary that President Vladimir Putin will try to score a political victory by showing that Ukraine lacks flexibility.
There have been concerns in Europe and Ukraine that Kiev could be pressured to cede land or accept other restrictions on its sovereignty. Ukraine and its European allies reject the idea that Putin should lay claim to any territory even before agreeing to a ceasefire.
"While we are working for a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear: all temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine," EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kalas said before the ministers' meeting.
"Sustainable peace also means that aggression cannot be rewarded," Kalas said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that "for Poland and our European partners - and I hope for everyone in NATO - it must be clear that state borders cannot be changed by force". Any land swap or peace terms "must be negotiated with Ukraine's participation," he said, according to the Polish news agency PAP.
On Sunday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany would not accept territorial issues being discussed or resolved by Russia and the United States "through the heads" of Europeans or Ukrainians.
Still, it is difficult to ignore the reality on the ground, the AP notes.
In 2022, Russia illegally annexed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, although it does not fully control them. It also occupied the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014.
“Ultimately, the question of whether the Russians are now effectively controlling part of Ukraine must be put on the table,” in any peace talks after the Alaska summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on CBS on Sunday.
He said Ukraine's Western backers "could never accept this in a legal sense," but suggested they could tacitly acknowledge Russian control.
Zelensky has insisted that a cessation of hostilities on the front lines should be a starting point for talks, and the Europeans support him. They say any future land swaps should be decided by Ukraine, not a precondition for a ceasefire.
The Europeans believe Kiev's best defense is a strong military to deter Russia from striking again. They insist that there should be no limits on the size of the Ukrainian army and on the equipment, weapons, and ammunition it can possess or sell.
Furthermore, they argue that Ukraine should not be restricted in its choice to join the EU or forced to become a neutral country.
The Trump administration has already taken Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table for the foreseeable future.