Ukraine is ready to cede territory under Russian occupation to stop the war, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph. 

The move would mean that Ukraine could allow Russia to hold the territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea, the report suggested. 

“The plan can only be related to the current positions held by the militaries,” a Western official told the paper. 

But Ukraine will reportedly only agree to conceding territory if it’s part of a pathway to NATO membership and weapons deliveries. 

President Trump is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss an end to the war. 

The European Union issued a joint statement backing the efforts, but insisted that the agreement must secure a “just and lasting” peace.

“The people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” the EU said. 

The European Union stressed the “inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny and will continue supporting Ukraine on its path towards EU membership.”

Ukraine’s reported readiness to cede territory comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky clarified that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier”

Mr. Trump repeated on Monday that an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia would entail “land swapping,” saying he was “a little bothered” by Mr. Zelensky’s refusal to accept that idea. 

“He’s got approval to go into a war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap? Because there’ll be some landswapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody,” Mr. Trump said. 

“It’s very complex, because you have lines that are very uneven. There will be some swapping. There will be some changes in land, and the word that they will use is, they make changes. We’re going to change the lines, the battleline,” he added. 

Mr. Zelensky is not expected to participate in the meeting on Sunday. 

An EU diplomat, Kaja Kallas, announced that a 19th sanctions package on Russia is under way

“The sequencing of the steps is important. First, an unconditional cease-fire with a strong monitoring system and ironclad security guarantees,” she said, adding that the EU is working on “more sanctions against Russia, more military support for Ukraine, and more support for Ukraine’s budgetary needs and accession process to join the EU.”