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Ukraine, EU Leaders: Putin Stalling 10/21 06:14
(AP) -- Ukraine's president and European leaders on Tuesday accused Russian
President Vladimir Putin of stalling for time in diplomatic efforts to bring
his invasion of Ukraine to an end and opposed any move to make Kyiv surrender
land captured by Russian forces in return for peace, as U.S. President Donald
Trump has on occasion suggested.
Eight European leaders as well as senior European Union officials said in a
joint statement they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow's billions of
dollars (euros) of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war, despite some
misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step.
The statement expressed support for Trump's peace efforts in Ukraine as he
prepares to meet with Putin in Budapest, Hungary in coming weeks.
No date has been set for the Budapest summit, and Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov indicated Tuesday there was no sense of urgency. "Preparation is
needed, serious preparation," he told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Putin returned to
diplomacy, calling Trump last week after the American president said he might
supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. But "as soon as the pressure
eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the
dialogue," Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a Telegram post.
"We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace," he said.
The leaders' statement laid down a marker by saying the leaders "remain
committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by
force."
Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to
concede land and suggested it could win back all the territory it has lost to
Russia. However, after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent
meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called
on Kyiv and Moscow to "stop where they are" in the more than three-year war.
On Sunday, Trump said that the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine
should be "cut up," leaving most of it in Russian hands.
Trump said Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can
ultimately defeat Russia, he's now doubtful it will happen.
Ukrainian and European leaders are trying hard to keep Trump on their side.
"We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should
stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting
point of negotiations," the statement said. "We can all see that Putin
continues to choose violence and destruction."
The dynamics of Trump's engagement with Europe's biggest conflict since
World War II have zigzagged as he searches for a peace deal.
Russia occupies about one fifth of Ukraine, but carving up their country in
return for peace is unacceptable to Kyiv officials.
Also, a conflict frozen on the current front line could fester, with
occupied areas of Ukraine offering Moscow a springboard for new attacks in the
future, Ukrainian and European officials fear.
The statement by the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., Finland, France, Germany,
Italy, Norway, Poland, Denmark and EU officials came early in what Zelenskyy
said Monday would be a week that is "very active in diplomacy."
More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed
at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
"We must ramp up the pressure on Russia's economy and its defense industry,
until Putin is ready to make peace," Tuesday's statement said.
On Friday, a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing -- a group of 35
countries who support Ukraine -- is due to take place in London.
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