Europe Europeans admonish Trump: Putin must fear defeat
The EU is appealing to US President Donald Trump to keep up the pressure on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin ahead of the planned meeting in Budapest. "We all support President Trump's efforts to end the war - but Putin will only negotiate seriously if he believes he will lose," said EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas after consultations with the foreign ministers of the EU member states in Luxembourg. The EU was therefore sticking to its plans for the 19th sanctions package, which would ideally be agreed at the end of this week. Ministers had also made it clear that planning for a 20th package should begin immediately afterwards.
20.10.2025, 18:15
SDA
On the question of whether Ukraine should give up the entire Donbass for a ceasefire agreement with Russia, Kallas said that it should not be forgotten that Russia was the aggressor and Ukraine the victim. Exerting pressure on the victim was the wrong approach - not only with regard to Ukraine, but also with regard to European and global security. "Because if aggression pays off, it is an invitation to use it elsewhere too," she said. Pressure on Russia must end the war.
Trump and Putin agreed to meet in Budapest during a telephone call last Thursday. Trump wants to explore options for ending the war in Ukraine. In his opinion, the current frontline should be frozen in order to end the fighting in Ukraine - including a resulting division of the eastern Donbass region.
Prior to Trump's comments, the Financial Times had reported, citing unnamed sources, that he had urged Zelenskyi at the meeting on Friday to give up the entire Donbass in order to end the war. This would enable Russian President Putin to achieve one of his most important goals in the war, which has been going on since 2022.
