The peace proposal that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin want to impose on Ukraine, and whose main points favor the Russian autocrat, was not even mentioned yesterday by the presidents and prime ministers attending the third anniversary of the invasion in Kiev. Instead, the message was the opposite: that a process in which Ukraine is not included will not be accepted and the war will continue until that objective is achieved.
Sánchez stated that "Ukraine must achieve a just and lasting peace. The freedom, security, and future of all Europeans depend on it." And he announced that Spain will send "a new package of military aid worth 1 billion euros to the Ukrainian people." In this, Spain also coordinated with its allies: both Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland made announcements of sending military equipment that clearly shows that, for now, the peace of Putin and Trump does not convince beyond the Kremlin and the White House.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Emmanuel Macron visited the White House to ease a difficult situation with Donald Trump, now a leader closer to Putin than to any European partner. But the first impression was already negative. The President of the United States did not even receive the Frenchman at the door, a customary gesture of deference that Trump has known since his first term.
"Diplomacy alone will not be enough. We need to combine it with more strength and unity," said Sánchez, who also requested that "Ukraine join the European Union as soon as possible." Other European politicians who were not present at the event spoke in the same vein. For example, the winner of the German legislative elections, the conservative Friedrich Merz, insisted that Ukraine "must be part of the peace negotiations". "Europe stands firmly by Ukraine," declared a leader from whom more military aid is expected than from the former Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Although in the last hours, the agreement for the transfer of certain rights to exploit rare earth elements seems very advanced, relations between Washington and Kiev have frozen. That is why the image of European leaders with Volodymyr Zelensky was so important yesterday to send a message to Trump. Brussels is not going to abandon the Ukrainian leader no matter how much that frustrates the plans of the Trump-Putin pact.
"Three years since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion. Three years of absolute heroism of our people. Eternal memory to all who defend our country and to those who have given their lives for Ukraine to live," said Zelensky. "We hope to end the war this year," he commented. The Ukrainian President also thanked "all free nations" for their support. As usual, European leaders traveled by train to the Ukrainian capital from Poland.
All of them visited the makeshift memorial that the families of fallen soldiers have been enlarging and caring for in Maidan Square in Kiev, the heart and seed of the fight against Russia since 2014 when the revolution shook off Moscow's control. If each flag represents a fallen soldier, the number of casualties from this invasion is staggering. One of them, Spanish, pays tribute to the memory of the Barcelona aid worker Emma Igual, who was killed near Bakhmut while traveling in a civilian vehicle.
In addition to Sánchez, those who participated in the tribute to the fallen in Maidan Square in central Kiev were the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen.
Later, an International Summit of Support for Ukraine was held in which other leaders also participated remotely. "Any agreement must be negotiated and accepted by Ukraine," said Czech President Petr Pavel via video conference. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called for both sides involved to be represented in any negotiation process and reaffirmed his willingness to host a negotiation process to end the conflict. The Turkish President reiterated his "strong support" for Ukraine, a country he described as a "friend" of Turkey.
The leaders of the European Union institutions went further and demanded "transatlantic and global solidarity with Ukraine" to achieve peace based on the formula proposed by Kiev. "We emphasize the need to ensure that the international community remains focused on supporting Ukraine to achieve a broad, fair, and lasting peace based on the Ukrainian peace formula," they said at the summit.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, stressed that "Russia and its leaders bear unique responsibility for this war and the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian population" and called for them to "be held accountable for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed." In this regard, they welcomed the recent progress in establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, demonstrating that Brussels is moving in a very different direction from Washington, which, through its contacts, has internationally rehabilitated Putin and his regime.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacted to these announcements by stating that Russia will only stop fighting in Ukraine when it has obtained what it wants from the negotiations on ending the conflict that the Russian and American presidents want to initiate. "We will only cease hostilities when these negotiations lead to a firm and lasting result that suits the Russian Federation," he told the press during a trip to Ankara, Turkey. Moscow demands the surrender of the Ukrainian army, the cession by Kiev of five regions partially or totally occupied, renunciation of NATO, and the replacement of authorities. In other words, they want the victory they have not achieved on the battlefield.