European Officials Present Ukraine Peace Proposals as Trump Prepares for Putin Talks

preCharge News POLITICS — European officials presented their own Ukraine peace proposals to the United States on Saturday as President Donald Trump prepared for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war.

Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year Ukraine conflict.

Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both”. It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Zelenskyy and his European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression.

Talks at Chevening House: European Allies Push for Security Guarantees

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Ukrainian and European allies on Saturday at Chevening House, a country mansion southeast of London, to discuss Trump’s push for Ukraine peace talks.

A European official confirmed a counterproposal was put forward by European representatives at the meeting but declined to provide details.

The Wall Street Journal said European officials had presented a counterproposal that included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken and that any territory exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees.

“You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,” one European negotiator said.

International Leaders Weigh In on Ukraine Peace Efforts

A U.S. official said “hours-long” meetings at Chevening produced significant progress toward bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to find a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and to maintain “unwavering support” for Zelenskyy, while welcoming Trump’s efforts to end the fighting.

Zelenskyy called the meeting constructive:

“The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine.”

Trump’s Alaska Meeting Could Include Zelenskyy

The Trump administration is considering inviting Zelenskyy to join the U.S. and Russian presidents at their Alaska meeting.

Macron reiterated that Ukraine’s future cannot be decided without Ukrainians, adding that Europe’s security is directly tied to the outcome of these talks.

Clear Steps Needed Before Any Agreement

Zelenskyy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine’s allies since Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow, which Trump described as having achieved “great progress.”

Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that would cede too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia’s Territorial Demands and the Ongoing War

Moscow has claimed four Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in these regions and have demanded Ukraine withdraw from areas still under its control.

Ukraine maintains a small foothold in Russia’s Kursk region, though Moscow claimed to have expelled Ukrainian troops in April.

Analysts Skeptical About Long-Term Peace

Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center called this “the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war,” but warned that any truce could be short-lived and potentially harmful to Ukraine.

Fighting Continues Along the Front Lines

Fierce battles rage across more than 1,000 km of front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold roughly a fifth of the country’s territory.

Russian troops are advancing slowly but have failed to achieve a major breakthrough.

Ukrainian Defiance Remains Strong

“Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory,” said Kyiv resident Olesia Petritska, standing among hundreds of Ukrainian flags commemorating fallen soldiers.