Illustration: Truthmeter.mk

This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.

It is not true that Ukraine and the EU are not a factor in reaching a possible peace agreement in Ukraine. The fact that Ukraine is the country that was attacked by Russia in 2022, as well as the fact that Ukraine was not defeated, but has been exercising its right to self-defense for more than three and a half years, the fact that Ukrainians do not retreat from their patriotic duty to defend the territories of their country–refute the statement in the post we are reviewing that “only Russia was a factor” in reaching a peace agreement

We analyze a post on the social network Facebook that shares a photo of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and states:

The photo is from the reception before the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska.

It was published on August 16, the same day as the summit between the two presidents.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, ahead of the meeting between Putin and Trump, hosted a virtual preparatory conference in Berlin. Several heads of state and government from Europe and representatives of the European Commission and NATO were invited. The guests of honor were US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who traveled to Berlin.

Zelensky stressed that he insists on security guarantees for his country. The statement in the post that the EU and Zelensky himself, who is the legitimate and elected president of Ukraine, “were not a factor in the peace negotiations” is not accurate. The selective isolation of the meeting that Putin and Trump had in Alaska and in such a way as to factor only that meeting, and not the consultations that the US president had with European leaders and with Zelensky himself, is an untrue representation of reality. Chancellor Merz himself stated before the meeting between Putin and Trump that “fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be respected in Alaska,” adding that “there is hope for moving towards peace in Ukraine.”

It is not true that Ukraine and the EU are not a factor in reaching a possible peace agreement in Ukraine. The fact that Ukraine is the country that was attacked by Russia in 2022 in a full-scale invasion, as well as the fact that Ukraine was not defeated, but has been exercising its right to self-defense for more than three and a half years, and the fact that Ukrainians do not retreat from their patriotic duty to defend the territories of their country–refute the statement in the post we are reviewing that “only Russia was a factor” in reaching a peace agreement. This is also illogical, because Russia is not reaching an agreement with itself in order to be the only necessary factor, but needs to reach an agreement with Ukraine, which in turn is undoubtedly supported in its right to self-defense by its European friends.

Additionally, on August 18, 2025, Zelensky held a joint meeting in Washington with the leaders of the United States and other European countries, the EU, and NATO, where they discussed the security architecture of Ukraine and Europe. The meeting was held at the White House. At that meeting, Europe definitely joined the Russia-Ukraine talks. The heads of state from several NATO allies arrived at the White House around noon.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, are just some of those present at that meeting.

It is not true that Putin was demonized on the orders of the EU. The EU, in support of international law and Ukraine’s right to self-defense, imposed various sanctions, seized property and froze the accounts of Russian oligarchs, raised alarms and sent diplomatic messages calling for Russia to withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. There was no demonization of Putin, but there was an indication that under his leadership Russia carried out an unprovoked military invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine, which caused “tectonic disturbances” on the geopolitical level, caused devastation in Ukraine, loss of human lives, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, etc.

After a meeting at the White House between European leaders and Donald Trump, Trump said he had called Putin to arrange bilateral talks between the Russian leader and Zelensky.

After this, there will be a trilateral meeting with Trump, the US president said.

EU leaders have repeatedly called on Russia to cease its military actions, unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from Ukraine, and fully respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.

NATO is not at war with Russia and is not party to the war Russia is waging on Ukraine. NATO supports Ukraine in its right to self-defence, as enshrined in the UN Charter. We do not seek confrontation with Russia. In response to Russia’s aggressive actions, we continue to strengthen our deterrence and defence to make sure there is no room for misunderstanding that NATO is ready to protect and defend every Ally. NATO is a defensive Alliance. Our core task is to keep our nations safe, writes the NATO website where pro-Russian disinformation is debunked.

The war in Ukraine has brought numerous human casualties and economic consequences for the entire world, and stopping it is the best option, but the conditions for that cessation of the war have yet to be agreed upon and specified, as well as be acceptable to the Ukrainian side.

Due to all the above facts, we assess the post we are reviewing as untrue.