The powerful of the world of everything: is the "support group" from the EU able to influence the positions of the Russian Federation and the United States

The leadership of the European Union and the United Kingdom will not be able to influence the position of the United States, as well as fully take over the supply of Ukraine. The analysts interviewed by Izvestia are sure of this. On August 17, it became known that the leaders of the leading EU and NATO countries will visit Washington together with Vladimir Zelensky, who is flying there to meet with Donald Trump. The success of these negotiations largely determines how soon and whether a Russia-USA-Ukraine summit will be possible at all. On August 15, Moscow and Washington agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine in Alaska, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said. About how the agreements between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Anchorage are being implemented, see the Izvestia article.

EU leaders to travel to the United States for talks with Trump

The United States and Russia have agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine, but now everything depends on Kiev, said US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The diplomat called this agreement a breakthrough and expressed hope that Washington will be able to organize a trilateral meeting of Russia, the United States and Ukraine in the near future. Witkoff noted that mutual guarantees can apply not only to Ukraine, but also to other European countries.

"There has been great progress in relations with Russia. Follow the news!" the American President Donald Trump wrote on social networks.

The best outcome of the Ukrainian conflict for the United States would be a full-fledged peace treaty, not a temporary cease-fire, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He also noted that territorial issues would be discussed at a meeting between Trump and Zelensky on August 18.

The latter will travel to the States as part of a "support team" of Western leaders. It is known that the meeting will be attended by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also join the talks. However, in the evening there were reports that Trump would first meet with Zelensky one-on-one, and only then his entourage would join the conversation.

At the same time, before the trip, Zelensky once again stated that it was necessary to stop the fire first, and then proceed to peace negotiations. Kiev considers joining the EU as security guarantees - according to Zelensky, this will strengthen the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. Von der Leyen, in turn, added that security guarantees are needed not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe. The EU visitors intend to convey this position to Trump at a meeting at the White House. Well, their presence should reduce the likelihood of a public conflict that occurred between Trump and Zelensky in February.

The US president intends to propose to European leaders and Vladimir Zelensky the terms of a peaceful settlement, which he discussed on August 15 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The Republican plans to hold a trilateral meeting with Russia and Ukraine as early as August 22, Axios and CNN reported, citing sources. Trump will begin work on organizing the summit if the talks in Washington on Monday are successful.

Earlier, the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Finland, Poland, Portugal and the European Commission issued a joint statement following talks between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States in Alaska. In it, they stated that they were ready to take part in the preparations for the trilateral summit of Moscow, Washington and Kiev. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested that such a meeting could take place in Europe. At the same time, EU leaders announced that they would continue sanctions pressure on Moscow and refused to discuss Ukraine's non-entry into NATO.

Will the EU and Ukraine agree with Trump's proposals

The EU intends to continue supporting Kiev even in the event of a failure of negotiations with Donald Trump, said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

— We will tell Zelensky that we will do what we have done so far: supply weapons, support and ensure the path to EU membership. Ukraine must decide for itself whether it wants to continue fighting," he said.

Negotiations between Russia and the EU are now virtually impossible due to the position of Brussels, Romanian MEP Diana Shoshoake told Izvestia. In her opinion, the United States and Russia in Alaska have agreed on some spheres of influence and mutual understanding at the poles of power.

— This indicates a complete paradigm shift at the global level and the beginning of a new era, when NATO will have to respect certain rules, especially the BRICS countries and, obviously, Russia, which has imposed its point of view. It is quite obvious to me that the world has become multipolar. And Europe is lagging behind and losing again, it has already lost," the politician stressed.

Diana Shoshoake stressed that the EU will return to dialogue with Russia only after the coming to power of sovereignist patriots who want to resume diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties with the Russian Federation and the abandonment of illegal EU sanctions against Moscow.

European leaders are trying to provide Kiev with acceptable conditions as part of possible negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. Nevertheless, the final decision will still remain with the American president, who will decide which advice from European leaders should be taken into account and which should not, German political scientist Egor Belyachkov said in an interview with Izvestia.

— The leaders of Germany and France, as well as the head of the European Commission, cannot count on serious success. In fact, their diplomatic line, which has been promoted since 2022, was disavowed by the Alaska summit," the expert said.

He stressed that Europe will not be able to completely replace the United States in the issue of supplying Ukraine, since it does not have the necessary production facilities at the moment. According to American publications, if Washington refuses military assistance to Ukraine, Kiev will lose access to satellite intelligence and some particularly important types of weapons.

How will the dialogue between Russia and the United States continue?

After the summit of the presidents in Alaska, Washington's position on the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict has changed. Now the United States agrees with Russia's position that a simple cease-fire is not enough, a full-fledged peace treaty is needed, which will become a solid foundation for peace.

Recall that Ukraine and the EU insist on a cease-fire, and then on discussing peaceful conditions. Initially, Donald Trump held the same position. Moscow believes that an end to the conflict is possible only as a result of eliminating its root causes. According to media reports, at a meeting in Washington, Zelensky and European leaders will try to clarify the reasons for the change in the US position.

Russia and the United States discussed the causes and genesis of the Ukrainian crisis during the Alaska summit, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting in the Kremlin following the talks. He noted that the Russian Federation would like to move to resolving all issues by peaceful means.

— I agree with President Trump, he spoke about this today, that, of course, Ukraine's security must also be ensured. Of course, we are ready to work on this," the Russian leader said.

Earlier, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came up with the idea of providing Ukraine with security guarantees based on Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which describes the need for support if one of the NATO countries is attacked.

— The so-called "security guarantees" proposal, according to which Ukraine will not be able to join NATO, but will be able to receive "alternative security guarantees", possibly modeled on Article 5 of the NATO Charter, is highly likely to lead to the failure of the negotiation process. From Moscow's point of view, this will be perceived as Ukraine's accession to NATO, but only under a different name," said Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

The expert draws attention to the fact that inviting non—NATO countries is the only optimal solution, but it is important to understand whether neutral countries are ready to take on such responsibility.

Russia and the United States have "made significant progress," Donald Trump said after talks in Alaska. The further course of the peaceful settlement depends on whether Washington can achieve a change in the tough position of the EU and Ukraine, which currently refuse to engage in an equal dialogue with Russia.