European leaders on 21 October issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for Ukraine and expressing approval of US President Donald Trump's efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

Source: European Pravda, citing a joint statement

Details: The European leaders stressed their unity in striving for a just and lasting peace that the people of Ukraine deserve.

Quote: "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."

Details : The leaders added that Russia's delaying tactics have repeatedly shown that "Ukraine is the only party serious about peace".

Quote: "We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction. Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position - before, during, and after any ceasefire. We must ramp up the pressure on Russia's economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace."

More details: The statement also noted that the signatories are developing measures "to use the full value of Russia's immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs".

It added that the leaders will meet later this week at the European Council and in the Coalition of the Willing format to discuss how to advance this work and continue supporting Ukraine.

The statement was signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister 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.

Background:

• After his meeting with Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine and Russia "must reach an agreement" to end the war, again repeating that "the war would never have started if I had been president."
• Zelenskyy did not dispute Trump's comment but recalled that Ukraine did not start the war and that it is Russia that "must stop".
• According to The Washington Post, during his conversation with Trump, Putin demanded full control over Donetsk Oblast to end the war, hinting that he might concede parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in return.
• Trump stated that he supports freezing the war along the current front line and denied claims that he urged Zelenskyy to give up all of Donetsk Oblast.

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