© Jeannot Ries / RTL
At a rally in Luxembourg City on Saturday against the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian community voiced deep scepticism over the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for next Friday in Alaska.
Gathered at Hamilius, participants wanted above all to stress that life in Ukraine remains far from normal. Nicolas Zharov, President of the non-profit association L'Ukraine in Luxembourg, underlined that there are no "holidays" from the war, as every day brings new missile strikes and the destruction of homes, and the country still lacks sufficient military aid to defend itself against these attacks.
The crowd was made up of women, men and children who have experienced the war first-hand. Many have endured bombardments themselves and still have relatives in Ukraine, particularly in eastern regions where fighting has continued for over a decade. Trump's announcement of talks on a lasting peace, Zharov noted, is far from the first such initiative.
Zharov said the community has no expectations of the meeting's outcome. He explained that Ukraine has repeatedly signed agreements with Russia – under Putin and previous presidents – yet none had been honoured. In his view, there are no current security guarantees, and nothing to suggest any new accord involving the United States would be respected in the future.
Speculation is rife over what the negotiating terms next Friday might be, but one point is already clear: Ukraine will not agree under any circumstances to hand over territory to Russia. Zharov compared such a concession to the appeasement of Hitler before the Second World War, warning that rewarding an aggressor with land is unjustified and would be, in effect, a "reward" for Putin.
He argued that Moscow should not be rewarded in any way, but instead subjected to increased economic pressure through sanctions. Despite Russia's own official claims, Zharov pointed to reports suggesting the country’s economic situation is at its worst since 2022, and that sanctions are indeed having an impact.
For him, after all the sacrifices of recent years, the Ukrainian people deserve a fair peace, one that would also help protect the rest of Europe from any future Russian aggression.
