After Trump-Putin call, EU warns against quick-fix deal on Ukraine

Kyiv and its European allies demanded on Thursday that they be included in any peace negotiations, after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and said Ukraine could neither have all of its land back nor join NATO.

Trump’s unilateral overture to Putin, accompanied by apparent concessions on Ukraine’s principal demands, raised alarm for both Kyiv and the European allies in NATO who said that they feared the White House might make a deal without them.

Don’t impose peace, says Germany

* There must be no imposed peace in Ukraine and any solution to the conflict must involve the US, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said

* ‘It is very clear to me that there must be no solution that does not also involve the US,’ the German Chancellor said, adding ‘the next task is to ensure that there is no imposed peace’

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“Any agreement without us will fail, because you need Europe and Ukraine to also implement the agreement,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Any quick fix is a dirty deal.”

Syrbiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said Kyiv remained committed to applying to join NATO, which he said was the simplest and least expensive way the West could provide the security guarantees needed to ensure Russia would not attack again.

The Kremlin, for its part, said it was “impressed” by Trump’s position, which it contrasted with that of his predecessor Joe Biden.