Trump-Putin's Phone Response, European Union Wants 'Storty Agreement' Regarding Ukraine

The impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine/DOK PHOTO via Instagram @mfa_ukraine

JAKARTA - Kyiv and his European allies on Thursday demanded that they be included in peace negotiations, after US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's financial markets soared and Ukraine's debt figures increased ahead of the first peace negotiations since the early months of the war which will soon enter its fourth year.

But Trump's unilateral offer to Putin, accompanied by concessions over Ukraine's main demands, raised concerns for Kyiv and European allies in NATO who said they were worried the White House would make a deal without them.

"Any agreement without us will fail, as you need Europe and Ukraine to also implement the agreement," said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

"Any quick improvement is a dirty deal," he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there was nothing to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine or about Europe without Europe.

Trump, who first had a telephone conversation with Putin at the publicly recognized White House since the massive invasion in February 2022, said he believed the two leaders wanted peace.

But the Trump administration also said it was publicly unrealistic for Kyiv to expect to return to its borders in 2014 or join the NATO alliance as part of any agreement.

Trump said no US troops would join any security forces in Ukraine that might be formed to ensure a ceasefire.

Russia seized the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine and its proxies seized territory in the east in 2014, before a full-scale invasion in 2022 when Russia seized more territory in the east and south.

Ukrainian officials in the past have acknowledged that NATO's full membership may not be reached in the short term and that a hypothetical peace agreement could put some of the occupied territory in Russia's hands.

But Kyiv and his European allies explained they were worried about Trump opening the negotiations by giving concessions to Moscow, without first agreeing to a joint position.