WASHINGTON. A just and lasting peace that will bring stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and that international borders may not be changed by force.
Tuesday's statement by the European Union member states, including Slovakia and with the exception of Hungary, emphasizes that the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be agreed without the participation of the attacked country.
The statement came three days before a planned Alaskan meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin .
This is supposed to take place in exactly this format - the United States and Russia without Ukraine, although on Tuesday there was still information in the media about the possibility that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj would also be negotiating in Alaska in some format.
He officially still insists that Ukraine refuses to cede its territories to the occupier, but the British newspaper The Telegraph wrote on Tuesday that he is willing to talk about Russia retaining at least some of the territories it currently occupies, but should not claim any more.
Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to improve its negotiating position with intense attacks, in which it managed to break through Ukrainian defenses near Pokrovsk.
Putin and Zelensky are fighting at home too
Putin is showing Trump his willingness to resolve the conflict, but is also intensifying military operations in Ukraine. This has put Trump in a difficult position, because Trump promised to end the war quickly and if he cannot do so, it will damage his credibility, American geostrategist George Friedman assessed the current events on the website of his company Geopolitical Futures.
The war in Ukraine is, according to Friedman, Putin's failure so far."Russia's goal was to create a buffer zone that would isolate Moscow from NATO, regain some of the territory Moscow lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and restore Russia's status in the international order," the expert writes.
