The leaders of the European Union countries have expressed their readiness to assist in preparing a trilateral meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

This was stated in a joint statement by the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, Poland, the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council after a telephone conversation with the American president.

The European leaders welcomed the efforts of President Donald Trump to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine and achieve a just peace.

In their statement, they stressed that Russia “cannot have the right to veto” Ukraine’s accession to the EU or NATO. They also insisted that Kiev itself must make decisions regarding its territorial integrity. “Decisions regarding its territory will be made by Ukraine itself. International borders cannot be changed by force,” the joint statement said.

European leaders are adamant that Ukraine must receive “reinforced concrete security guarantees.” “We clearly understand that Ukraine must have reinforced concrete security guarantees in order to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome President Trump’s statement that the United States is ready to provide security guarantees. The coalition of the willing is ready to play an active role.”

The EU will continue to exert sanctions pressure on Russia, the current sanctions will remain in force, new ones are planned, in particular economic measures. “We are ready to continue to exert pressure on Russia. We will continue to strengthen sanctions and expand economic measures to put pressure on the Russian military economy until a lasting and just peace is achieved,” the document states.

Earlier, talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, took place in Alaska. The leaders’ meeting took place at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage. The talks between the leaders in a narrow format were held in a "three-on-three" format and lasted two hours and 45 minutes. On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov. On the US side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US leader's special representative Stephen Witkoff were present. І BGNES and AFP