EU leaders say they will continue to support Ukraine

According to the 28-point plan for peace that is being proposed by Washington, Ukraine will have to concede territorial losses and give up additional territory in the east, cap the size of its military, and agree to never join the NATO alliance.

After withdrawing his Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to his peace plan, US President Donald Trump announced last night that Moscow is prepared to make some concessions. He did not however, specify what those concessions were. Trump also announced an upcoming meeting between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has confirmed.

The US President also said that he believes that Ukraine would like to achieve peace: "Ukraine is doing well, I think they're pretty happy about it and they'd like to see it end. We won't know for a little while, but we're making progress. We settled eight wars, and I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin. But, this is probably one of the more difficult ones. There's a lot of hatred."

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union is against unilaterally redrawing borders and placing restrictions on the Ukrainian army: "We know that Russia's mindset has not changed since the days of Yalta. Seeing our continent in terms of spheres of influence. So we need to be clear that there cannot be unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation and that borders cannot be changed by force. If today we legitimize and formalize the undermining of borders we open the doors for more wars tomorrow, and we cannot let this happen."

During his address to the Bundestag, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany will continue to support Ukraine: "At this crucial moment for Ukraine, for Europe, and for our alliance with America, I want to make it clear that decisions on European issues can only be made with mutual consent. Europe is not a pawn, but a sovereign actor pursuing its own interests and values. Amidst all these events, we must not lose sight of the fact that the war could end tomorrow if Russia halts its aggression, which violates international law, and withdraws its troops from foreign territory."

Source: HRT