Ukraine Russia war live: EU leaders say Ukraine must ‘choose own destiny’ ahead of Trump-Putin summit

The Russian and Belarusian armies are set to hold joint strategic exercises in Belarus from 12-16 September, the Belarusian Defence Ministry has said.

The aim of the drills is to test the capabilities of Russia and Belarus and “ensure the military security of the Union State and their readiness to repel possible aggression,” the ministry cited Major General Valery Revenko as saying.

The Union State is a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics and neighbours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned earlier this year, without giving details or citing evidence, that Russia was “preparing something” in Belarus this summer under the guise of routine military exercises.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, will head a Russian delegation on an official visit to the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday, the lower house of parliament said.

The delegation will participate in the 80th anniversary celebrations of the liberation of North Korea from Japanese colonial rule by Allied troops at the end of World War Two, the statement said.

The State Duma did not name the other members of the Russian delegation. Volodin, a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, often heads parliamentary contingents on foreign trips, including a visit to India earlier this year.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 52 drones and missiles overnight, according to Ukraine’s armed forces.

Russian forces used 48 Shahed strike drones from the directions of Bryansk, Millerovo and Shatalovo, as well as four ballistic missiles from Voronoezh and Bryansk.

Strike drones targeted the Sumy and Donetsk regions, while missiles targeted the Chernihiv region.

Forces recorded 13 drones and three missiles struck seven locations, but 36 drones were shot down.

Hungary is the only EU member country not to endorse a statement that Ukrainians must have the freedom to decide their future and a diplomatic solution must protect Ukrainian and European interests.

“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the leaders said, adding that “we share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, considered to be Russian president Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe, has expressed resistance to Ukraine joining the European Union.

Hungary has also previously blocked EU sanctions against Russia during the war before backing down.

The European Council has just released a joint statement from the 26 leaders of the EU member states, welcoming Donald Trump’s efforts to secure peace in Ukraine while warning that the Ukrainian people “must have the freedom to decide their future”.

Read the full statement here:

“We, the Leaders of the European Union, welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and achieving a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine.”

A just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force.

“The people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.

“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities.

“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has wider implications for European and international security. We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.

“The European Union, in coordination with the US and other like-minded partners, will continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine as Ukraine is exercising its inherent right of self-defence.

“It will also continue to uphold and impose restrictive measures against the Russian Federation.

“A Ukraine capable of defending itself effectively is an integral part of any future security guarantees.

“The European Union and Member States are ready to further contribute to security guarantees based on their respective competences and capabilities, in line with international law, and in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain Member States and taking into account the security and defence interests of all Member States.

“The European Union underlines the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny and will continue supporting Ukraine on its path towards EU membership.”

Ukraine has retaken two villages in its eastern region of Sumy, the Ukrainian military said, adding to recent small territorial gains along the border with Russia ahead of an Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Donald Trump said that Kyiv and Moscow will both have to cede land to end the war in Ukraine and this week’s talks with Putin will show whether the Kremlin leader is willing to make a deal.

Ukraine’s forces have liberated the settlements of Stepne and Novokostiantynivka along the frontline in Sumy, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said yesterday evening.

“It’s tough. But we are holding back the enemy,” Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, wrote on Facebook following a meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s top brass.

“In the Sumy direction, we are conducting active operations and have some success advancing forward, liberating Ukrainian land,” he said.

Monday’s gains follow Sunday’s news that Kyiv’s military had retaken the village of Bezsalivka.

Swathes of Russian-held Ukrainian territory could be handed over to Moscow as part of a peace deal potentially negotiated by Donald Trump, according to reports.

Volodymyr Zelensky is prepared to cede the territory as part of a peace deal set in motion by the US president and Vladimir Putin’s meeting in Alaska this week, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

This could mean handing Russia control of territory it occupies in the five provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea, which has been held since 2014.

The reports comes, however, after Mr Zelensky urged European countries to push back on any settlement proposed by Mr Trump that would see Kyiv handing over land Ukraine still holds in these regions.

Here, The Independent takes a closer look at what territory could be ceded under the reported concessions.

Trump delivered the news from the podium in the press briefing room — joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and newly confirmed DC US attorney Jeanine Pirro — where he decried the level of crime in Washington, DC.

“This is a tragic emergency, and it’s embarrassing for me to be up here,” Trump told reporters. “You know, I’m going to see Putin. I’m going to Russia on Friday. I don’t like being up here, talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once-beautiful capital [is].”

Trump is not going to Russia, but rather to Alaska to meet with Putin. He is set to meet with the Russian president to discuss bringing an end to the war in Ukraine that Russia initiated when it invaded the sovereign nation in February 2022.

Eric Garcia reports from Washington DC: