US peace proposal: EU insists 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine'

ISTANBUL

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on Friday insisted that there should be "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," following a discussion with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the US peace proposal.

"Today, we have discussed the current situation, and we are clear that there should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," von der Leyen and Costa said on US social media company X.

They reaffirmed that Europe has stood with Ukraine, working for a just and sustainable peace.

"As next steps, European leaders will meet tomorrow on the margins of the G20 and then in Angola at the EU-AU meeting," von der Leyen and Costa added.

The reported US-backed draft includes demands for Ukraine to forgo NATO membership, recognize Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk as de facto Russian-controlled, and pull back forces to create a demilitarized zone in Donbas in exchange for security guarantees modeled on NATO’s collective defense principle.