Ukraine and its European allies pulled together on Sunday to respond to President Donald Trump’s apparent shift toward Vladimir Putin’s hardline position after their summit in Alaska.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they would join Zelensky in Washington on Monday as they seek to navigate America’s new approach to ending the war after Trump said he was reversing his insistence on a ceasefire and instead pursuing a permanent peace deal,suggesting Washington was aligning with Kremlin wishes.
Trump appeared Sunday to respond to reports that he may also be backing Putin’s demands for Ukraine to give up its eastern Donbas region, alarming Kyiv and its European allies.
“If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal,” he posted on Truth Social.
Zelensky claims Putin is exaggerating his gains on the battlefield, a claim he made to Trump in a telephone call at the weekend after Putin told Trump that Ukrainian frontlines in Donetsk were on the verge of collapse and he should be handed the territory.
Zelensky on Sunday told reporters that surrendering territory for peace in a future agreement with Russia could be ‘impossible’. He spoke before a meeting with European leaders who are expected to broadly support him against Trump at the White House on Monday.
Ukrainian intelligence claims Russia staged fake videos of troops gaining territory in Ukraine in a bid to fool Trump and the world.
They say Russian commanders are forcing troops to risk their lives in suicidal flag-painting missions, sending small groups to the frontline villages to raise the Russian flags while drones film the spectacle.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is reportedly desperate to claim all of Donetsk in return for a peace deal, which Trump is thought to favor.
Ukraine however has been clawing back territory in Donetsk, even as Moscow pours men and resources into the region.
As of August 15, Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, and a major chunk of territory in the east and southeast of the country, according to open source maps of the battlefield.
