Macron says only Zelenskyy can negotiate Ukraine territory deal

BERLIN/KYIV: US President Donald Trump has said Ukraine must be involved in talks about land in any truce deal with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (Aug 13), suggesting Kyiv and its European allies had got their message across before a superpower summit.

The comments were among the first indications of what came out of talks between Trump, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, intended to influence Trump as he prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Trump's insistence on involving Ukraine, if confirmed, could bring a measure of relief to Ukraine and its allies, who have feared that Trump and Putin could reach a deal that sells out Europe's and Ukraine's security interests and proposes to carve up Ukrainian territory.

Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War II. Trump has said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.

On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskyy flew into Berlin for German-hosted virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump.

The Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, and emboldening Putin to expand further west into the future.

"The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president," Macron said.

"There are currently no serious territorial exchange schemes on the table."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump would prioritise reaching a ceasefire on Friday, adding that there was no question of legally recognising Russia's territorial holdings.

Zelenskyy said there should be a three-way meeting between himself, Putin and Trump.

Merz said Ukraine was prepared to negotiate on territorial issues, but "legal recognition of Russian occupation is not up for debate".

"If the United States of America now works towards a peace in Ukraine that safeguards European and Ukrainian interests, he can count on our full support in this endeavour," Merz said at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy.

William Courtney, an adjunct senior fellow at think tank RAND Corporation, said European leaders see Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a direct threat to the region’s security.

“As the Europeans are now the ones providing most of the financial and military aid to Ukraine, and continuing to increase sanctions (on Russia), the European leverage is increasing,” he told CNA’s Asia First programme.

As Russia tries to seize more land with a sudden advance on the frontline ahead of Alaska talks, Courtney said the top deterrence continues to be military aid to Ukraine.

“The likelihood of a determination that the battle will end in a different way is much greater if Ukraine has more capability to fight off Russian aggressors,” he said. Courtney is also a former American diplomat who was special assistant to the US president for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.

“The battlefield is really the main source of action. Sanctions have importance … but Russia will mostly look at what happens on the battlefield,” he added.

“In some sense, it's like after World War II. Where the Soviet soldiers ended up in Europe was basically where the Soviets were able to control Europe.”