European leaders have warned against Ukrainian borders being redrawn by force – two days before a US-Russia summit on Ukraine is due to take place in Alaska.In a statement, European leaders said “the people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future.”It added the principles of “territorial integrity” must be respected and “international borders must not be changed by force”.The statement was signed by 26 of 27 leaders. Missing from the signatories was Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with Russia and has repeatedly tried to block EU support for Ukraine.The statement underscored the nervousness felt by Europeans about Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, which many countries – particularly those bordering Russia or those in which the memory of Soviet occupation still lingers – believe could pose a direct threat in the near future. In recent years Sweden and Finland have joined Nato, Baltic countries have reinstated conscription, and Poland has set aside billions to build a barrier alongside its border with Russia.European countries have a long history of borders being redrawn by bloody wars and are extremely concerned by the prospect of the US allowing that to happen in Ukraine. A legal recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over territories it conquered by force is unacceptable to the EU.However, the notion that some Ukrainian regions currently under Russian control may not return to Kyiv is gaining ground. US President Donald Trump has insisted that any peace deal would involve “some swapping of territories” and could see Russia taking the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and keeping Crimea. In exchange it would give up the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it partially occupies.Last week, while admitting that some Ukrainian territory might end up being de facto controlled by Russia, Nato chief Mark Rutte stressed that this should not be formally recognised.In their statement, Eur …
