The discussions will occur at the national security advisers’ level. Bjoern Seibert, chief of staff to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to represent the EU, alongside Pedro Lourtie, the chief aide to European Council President António Costa.
The Europeans are likely to advocate for changes to Trump’s team’s proposal of ceding territory in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia. They prefer a ceasefire to be based on the current “contact line,” allowing only for talks to commence, not as a final solution.
Ukraine and its European allies firmly oppose any notion that Kyiv should surrender land by force. NATO and EU affiliates fear that this outcome could encourage Russian leader Vladimir Putin to expand his territorial objectives and possibly target them next.
More work needed
On Saturday, over a dozen leaders, including Germany’s Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, the U.K.’s Keir Starmer, the EU’s von der Leyen, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, and Canada’s Mark Carney, gathered urgently during the G20 summit in Johannesburg to align their response to Trump’s plan with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The draft is a basis which will require additional work,” the leaders stated in a joint announcement afterward. “We affirm the principle that borders must not be altered by force. We are also troubled by the proposed constraints on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine susceptible to future attack.”
The leaders aim to reassure Zelenskyy of their support, even if Trump does not. Their statement also expressed dissatisfaction with elements of the U.S. proposals impacting the EU and NATO, indicating that such provisions would need appropriate “consent” from these entities.
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