By Reuters
KYIV/LONDON: European leaders on Saturday welcomed US President Donald Trump鈥檚 plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, while stressing the need to keep pressure on Moscow and protect Ukrainian and European security interests.
Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict.
The US president is open to a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelenskiy, but for now the White House is planning a bilateral meeting as requested by Putin, a White House official said. Russian and Ukrainian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the prospects of a trilateral meeting.
Details of a potential deal have not been announced, but Trump said it would involve 鈥渟ome swapping of territories to the betterment of both鈥.
It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Zelenskiy and his Euro