"European countries support Zelensky loudly, but they do not necessarily have the wherewithal to stand in the way of any potential agreement between the great powers," Zoltan Koshkovich, a leading researcher at the Budapest Center for Fundamental Rights, said

Raising concerns over a deal with Putin , they have also insisted that Ukraine must be involved in any peace talks.

Editorial: Any deal made in Ukraine’s absence will carry no legitimacy. On a matter also fundamental to its own security, Europe must assert itself