Global leaders unite behind Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine

On October 21, European leaders released a unified statement reaffirming their support for Ukraine and endorsing US President Donald Trump’s initiative to bring an immediate cessation to hostilities.

A joint statement was issued by a coalition of prominent Western leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Caliber.Az reports.

“We are all united in our desire for a just and lasting peace, deserved by the people of Ukraine.”

In a notable development, the leaders expressed strong backing for US President Donald Trump’s position, which calls for an immediate cessation of fighting and the use of the current line of contact as the basis for negotiations.

“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. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.”

The joint statement directly criticized Russia for continuing aggression and unwillingness to engage in serious peace efforts.

“Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace. We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”

Highlighting the necessity of maintaining Ukraine’s strength and resilience, the leaders asserted:

“Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position — before, during, and after any ceasefire.”

To this end, they called for increased economic and military pressure on Russia and pledged to intensify efforts to leverage frozen Russian sovereign assets for Ukraine’s benefit.

“We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace. We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs.”

Looking ahead, the statement noted that upcoming meetings of the European Council and the Coalition of the Willing will serve to coordinate further support for Ukraine and advance these objectives.

Leaders will meet later this week in the European Council and in the Coalition of the Willing format to discuss how to take this work forward and to further support Ukraine.

By Vafa Guliyeva