How European leaders are responding as Trump urges Ukraine to cede territory to Russia

Geoff Bennett:

President Trump today expressed doubt that Ukraine could defeat Russia and win back all the land Moscow has seized since it first invaded in 2014.

Amna Nawaz:

The president's renewed skepticism comes after his Friday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Mr. Trump declined Ukraine's request for long-range missiles.

Nick Schifrin has the details.

Nick Schifrin:

On Ukraine's front lines this weekend: A woman lay badly wounded a few feet from the victim of a Russian gunshot. They and many Ukrainians tonight fear they must fend for themselves amid fallout from Friday's Cabinet Room meeting with President Trump.

Donald Trump, President of the United States: We would much rather have them not need Tomahawks.

Nick Schifrin:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived hoping for American Tomahawk cruise missiles, whose range can reach well beyond Moscow. But President Trump said no for now.

Donald Trump:

They're a very dangerous weapon and that it could mean big escalation. It could mean a lot of bad things can happen. Tomahawks are a big deal. But one thing I have to say, we want Tomahawks also.

Nick Schifrin:

The rest of the meeting did not go better. Two European and one U.S. official tell "PBS News Hour" it was difficult, with President Trump refusing to provide new weapons capabilities and once again raising Vladimir Putin's demand for land swaps, a throwback to their Oval Office map discussion from earlier this year.

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine unilaterally give up the portion of Donetsk it still controls and that Russia has failed to capture despite 11 years of war. Russia would return slivers of Ukrainian territory that it captured in Kharkiv and Sumy regions. President Trump's vision is to end the war on the current lines, no matter what Ukraine loses, as he told reporters last night.

Donald Trump:

They should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people and be done.

Question:

What do you think should happen with the Donbass region?

Donald Trump:

Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now. I think 78 percent of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is.

Would you like to say how you are doing on the battlefield?

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:

Yes. Yes.

Nick Schifrin:

Just four weeks ago, President Trump said Ukraine could — quote — "win back all occupied territories." Today, he walked that back.

Donald Trump:

They could still win it. I don't think they will, but they could still win it. I never said they would win it.

Nick Schifrin:

Of course, Ukraine can't and won't wait. Once again this weekend, it targeted Russian energy facilities using its own long-range drones. But Ukraine needs more air defense, including Patriot missiles. And Zelenskyy said today he hopes to purchase 25 Patriot systems.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (through interpreter):

We are working with America in a very specific way, so Ukraine can still receive the necessary number of Patriot systems. This is not an easy task, but it is one of the security guarantees for Ukraine and will work long term.

Nick Schifrin:

Zelenskyy also said that he met the companies that manufacture the Patriots during his visit to Washington and received their reassurance the U.S. would try to provide the air defense systems to Kyiv. But the reality is, there are long delays in deliveries.

Zelenskyy also said Europe would support Ukraine on those purchases and on pressuring Russia that in a way, Amna, so far President Trump has been unwilling to do.

Amna Nawaz:

So let's start in Europe then. And what have we been hearing from European officials in response to that Trump-Zelenskyy meeting?

Nick Schifrin:

They have really rushed to help support Ukraine. I spoke to half-a-dozen European officials about this meeting, and they expressed disappointment in the meeting, but, frankly, not surprise.

They are used to President Trump waxing and waning and in this case moving toward the Russian side and away from the Ukrainian side. And they just realized that they have to deal with it. So how do they deal with it? First steps are diplomatic. Many Europeans spoke to Zelenskyy on Friday night after he met with President Trump and today expressed public solidarity with Ukraine.

Number two, pressure on Russia. European leaders will meet on Thursday later this week to pass a new sanctions package on Russia that will sanction Russian LNG. It will also for the first time punish Indian and Chinese companies for buying Russian energy. That, of course, is a demand that President Trump said needed to happen before he would impose any sanctions on Russia.

And the third is European military support. European countries continue to buy American weapons to send Ukraine and ramp up their own production.

But European officials know they can't arm Ukraine by themselves or even present a credible deterrent by themselves to Russia, which is why they still need U.S. support and why they will try their best to encourage President Trump to consider things from their perspective or Ukraine's perspective before he has that meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Amna Nawaz:

What about Ukraine's perspective? What have we been hearing from President Zelenskyy after that meeting?

Nick Schifrin:

He puts a positive spin on the meeting. Today, he emphasized that it's good that President Trump supports a cease-fire on the current front lines, skipping over the fact, of course, that President Trump said the war should end on the front lines.

But he's also focused on air defense, as I mentioned earlier. And he is clear. There will be no land swap at all. Basically, he will not give into what Russia is demanding. As he put it last night: "We will grant the aggressor no gifts and forget nothing," so a rejection once again of Putin's demands.

Here's how a U.S. official puts it to me: "The president of the United States wants to end the war no matter what. Ukraine wants to try and end the war on their terms." But they need President Trump to put pressure on Russia in order to do that. And, so far, that's not what they're seeing.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, Nick Schifrin, thank you very much.

Nick Schifrin:

Thank you.