Amid possible Trump-Putin summit, US and Europe push for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia sticks to preconditions

Russia maintains its stance

Lavrov told reporters he was surprised by a CNN report suggesting the planned Rubio-Lavrov meeting had been postponed and that US officials viewed Russia as holding a “maximalist stance.” Lavrov confirmed that Russia has not altered its position compared to the agreements reached during the Alaska summit, adding that he had communicated this directly to Rubio.

“The place and timing of the next summit are less important than implementing the understandings reached in Anchorage,” Lavrov said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that neither Trump nor Putin has provided exact dates for the next meeting.

Addressing the root causes

Lavrov added that the war’s root causes must be addressed to achieve lasting peace, dismissing European calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities without deeper engagement. Russia’s conditions include ensuring Ukraine remains non-nuclear and non-aligned with NATO, along with protections for Russian-speaking populations in the country. One key demand from Moscow is a written commitment from Western leaders to halt NATO’s eastward expansion, though NATO has stressed that membership decisions remain a sovereign choice for individual countries.

Since February 2022, when Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine following years of conflict in the east between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government, Moscow has repeatedly expressed willingness to negotiate peace. However, Ukraine and its European allies have insisted on an immediate ceasefire along current battle lines before negotiations can proceed, a position Trump publicly endorsed after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last Friday. Russia has also demanded that Ukraine cede more territory as part of any potential ceasefire agreement.

European and Ukrainian response

On Tuesday, Ukrainian and European leaders accused Putin of delaying diplomatic progress and rejected any proposal that would require Kyiv to surrender territory in exchange for peace. Leaders from the UK, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Denmark, along with senior EU officials, reaffirmed plans to use Moscow’s frozen foreign assets to support Ukraine, while acknowledging potential legal and political challenges.

The statement expressed support for Trump’s peace efforts ahead of the prospective Budapest summit but underscored the principle that international borders cannot be altered by force. After a series of discussions with both Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump has called for a halt to hostilities at current front lines, though he now doubts Ukraine can fully defeat Russia.

European and Ukrainian officials are seeking to maintain Trump’s engagement, stressing that a frozen conflict on the current lines could allow Russia to launch future attacks. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy described the week as “very active in diplomacy,” with further international sanctions on Russia expected to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. The Coalition of the Willing, a group of 35 countries supporting Ukraine, is scheduled to meet in London on Friday to coordinate further actions.

“We must intensify economic pressure on Russia and its defense industry until Putin is prepared to negotiate peace,” the statement concluded.