Europe insists that Zelensky not withdraw troops from Donbas – Bloomberg

Europe is urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to agree to withdraw troops from Donbas.

This follows from an article by Bloomberg.

According to the outlet, Europeans want the Ukrainian leader not to conclude a peace agreement without security guarantees from the United States.

“Europe’s main goal is to avoid a situation in which a battered Zelensky is forced by the U.S. to withdraw troops from Ukrainian Donbas and agree to a deal without serious American security guarantees,” the agency writes.

European officials also plan to convey this message to Washington: in the coming days, European representatives will travel to the U.S. to discuss the negotiation process.

For now, Europe is sticking to a strategy of “publicly endorsing U.S. efforts, relying on Putin to blow them up.” But “this approach is now at its limit, and it’s unclear whether there is a Plan B.”

British officials are confident that Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected U.S. proposals during his last meeting with U.S. special representative Steven Witkoff, because “the plan appears to have been tweaked slightly in Ukraine’s favor.”

“But this time Europeans see a potentially different dynamic. European diplomats report that communication with the American and Ukrainian sides has recently been difficult. They are also increasingly prepared for the possibility that Trump will walk away from the war if he cannot reach a deal,” the article says.

Bloomberg warns that there remains a risk the U.S. might pull out of the process altogether, leaving Europe alone with the problem of continuing support for Ukraine, and that declarations about the EU standing “shoulder to shoulder for as long as it takes” are not a strategy. If the U.S. steps away, Europe will have to decide whether it can continue supporting Ukraine both militarily and financially.

At the same time, “it remains unclear whether Europe will be able to devise a viable plan to keep financing Ukraine.”