Zelensky and European leaders accuse Putin of stalling for time on peace talks

Ukraine’s president and European leaders have accused Vladimir Putin of stalling for time in diplomatic efforts to bring his invasion of Ukraine to an end and opposed any move to make Kyiv surrender land captured by Russian forces in return for peace.

Eight European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer and senior European Union officials said in a joint statement they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow’s billions of euros of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war, despite some misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step.

The statement expressed support for US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts in Ukraine as he prepares to meet Mr Putin in Budapest, Hungary, in coming weeks.

No date has been set for the Budapest summit, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated on Tuesday there was no sense of urgency.

“Preparation is needed, serious preparation,” he told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Mr Putin returned to diplomacy, calling Mr Trump last week after the American president said he might supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.

But “as soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue,” Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday in a Telegram post.

“We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” he said.

The leaders’ statement laid down a marker by saying they “remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force”.

Mr Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to concede land and said it could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia.

However, after a phone call with Mr Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Mr Zelensky on Friday, Mr Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” in the more than three-year war.

On Sunday, Mr Trump said that the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine should be “cut up”, leaving most of it in Russian hands.

Mr Trump said on Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he is now doubtful it will happen.

Ukrainian and European leaders are trying hard to keep Mr Trump on their side.

“We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,” the statement said. “We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”

The dynamics of Mr Trump’s engagement with Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War have zigzagged as he searches for a peace deal.

Russia occupies about one fifth of Ukraine but carving up their country in return for peace is unacceptable to Kyiv officials.

Also, a conflict frozen on the current front line could fester, with occupied areas of Ukraine offering Moscow a springboard for new attacks in the future, Ukrainian and European officials fear.

The statement by the leaders of Ukraine, the UK, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Denmark and EU officials came early in what Mr Zelensky said would be a week that is “very active in diplomacy”.

More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

“We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace,” Tuesday’s statement said.

On Friday, a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing — a group of 35 countries who support Ukraine — is due to take place in London.