The talks will be held at the level of national security advisers, while Bjoern Seibert, the head of cabinet for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to represent the EU.
Among other points, the Europeans are expected to push Trump’s team to dilute their proposal for handing territory in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia. Instead, they want any ceasefire to start from the principle that the conflict will be frozen on the current “contact line,” but that this would only be to allow talks to begin, not as a final settlement.
Ukraine and its European allies strongly reject the idea that Kyiv should be required to give up land by force. NATO and EU allies worry that such an outcome would simply encourage Russian leader Vladimir Putin to expend his territorial ambitions and attack them next.
This article is being updated.
