Europe's leaders warn against 'appeasement' with Russia, ceasefire talks without Ukraine
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy supported by most European counterparts in demanding a seat at the table
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday Ukraine would not accept any bilateral agreements on its fate reached by Moscow and Washington in its absence, and called for Europe to have a seat at the negotiating table at the end of the war.
"Today it's important that everything does not go according to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's plan, in which he wants to do everything to make his negotiations bilateral [with the U.S.]," Zelenskyy told reporters.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha echoed the president's comments, in an interview with Le Monde newspaper in France on Thursday.
European leaders also cautioned the U.S. against sealing a Ukraine peace deal with Russia behind their backs as they scrambled for a seat at the table after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an interest in starting negotiations after confirming he spoke to Putin.
"We must make sure that Ukraine is at the heart of this. There can't be any negotiations without Ukraine being at the heart of it," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters in London.
Trump's social media post and subsequent comments Wednesday sent shockwaves through European capitals, which want a central role in peace talks because any settlement in Ukraine, hit by a full-scale Russian invasion three years ago, will have ramifications for their own security.
"It is clear that any deal behind our backs will not work. Any agreement will need also Ukraine and Europe being part of it," European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas said, as leaders met in Brussels.
"Why are we giving [Russia] everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started?" said Kallas, speaking before a meeting of NATO defence ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels.
"It's appeasement. It has never worked."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV in an interview: "One way or another, of course, Ukraine will participate in the negotiations."
However, he added: "There will be a bilateral Russian-American track of this dialogue, and a track that will be related to Ukraine's involvement."
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Wednesday it was unrealistic for Ukraine to return to pre-2014 borders and that NATO membership for Kyiv would not be part of a peace deal. Russia seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.
Hegseth elaborated on those comments 24 hours later and rejected any suggestion the U.S. was already giving in to Russian preferences or compromising the leverage of Ukraine and its Western allies.
"Simply pointing out realism like the borders won't be rolled back to what everyone would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin," he said. "It's a rejection of hard-power realities on the ground after a lot of sacrifice by first Ukrainians and then allies, and then a realization that a negotiated peace is going to be some sort of demarcation that neither side wants."
"Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into 'Uncle Sucker,'" he added.
Orban an outlier among European leaders
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also said it would have been better if Washington had not given what he called concessions to Moscow before peace talks even started.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said Europe should not fall "under the illusion that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin are going to find the solution for all of us."
Not all European leaders were alarmed by Trump's move.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally who has also been friendlier with Putin than most European leaders, praised the U.S. president and criticized the ministers' statement.
"You can't request a seat at the negotiating table. You have to earn it!" he said on social media.
European leaders say one reason they need to be involved in talks is that Washington has made clear it expects them to provide security guarantees for any peace deal, which could mean European troops being deployed to Ukraine.
"There is no option to not be at the table, because we are very important in the actual implementation of those security guarantees," said Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans.
Ukraine has tried to urgently forge close ties with the new Trump administration, offering a minerals deal to win U.S. favour, while Russian forces, already occupying one-fifth of Ukraine, keep up battlefield pressure.
'Hoping for the best': Kyiv residents react
In interviews with Reuters, Kyiv residents reacted to the prospect of fast-track peace talks with a mix of dismay and cautious hope.
"It truly looks as if they want to surrender Ukraine, because I don't see any benefits for our country of these negotiations or Trump's rhetoric," said Kyiv resident Myroslava Lesko, 23, standing near a sea of flags downtown honouring fallen troops.
Some Ukrainians have expressed frustration that the U.S. under the previous Joe Biden administration, despite providing billions in military aid, had not done enough to tip the war in Kyiv's favour.
"Trump is a strong-willed person," said Hryhoriy Buhoyets, 60. "He can decide on whatever he wants, and regarding Ukraine, I think he has some plans."
Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Third Assault Brigade fighting in the war, wrote on the Telegram app that he had not expected Ukraine to receive quick NATO membership anyway.
Olena Chiupika, 38, a manager in Kyiv, said Ukraine had already proven successful at securing foreign support that had once seemed unrealistic, citing the F-16 fighter jets provided by allies .
"I'm hoping for the best," she said. "I would like to, because the mood is not great."
With files from CBC News