Trump said he expects to see Putin in Saudi Arabia in the “not too distant future” for their first meeting since his inauguration last month.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas released a late-night statement on behalf of the Weimar + group of nations, which includes France, Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy and the U.K., reacting to Trump’s pronouncements.
“Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are unconditional” as peace talks begin, the statement posted by Kallas said. “Our priority must now be strengthening Ukraine and providing robust security guarantees.”
Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Estonian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, cautioned: “Today might go down in history as a dark day for Europe,” adding that it’s time for European leaders to “take our fate into our own hands.”
The pushback came after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Ukraine to give up hopes of recapturing all the territory occupied by Russia, labeling a return to its pre-2014 borders an “illusory goal.”
Trump reiterated Hegseth’s remarks Wednesday, telling reporters in the White House that Kyiv getting all its land back was “unlikely.” But he did add: “Some of it will come back. I think some of it will come back, yeah.”
