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Ukraine, Trump tariffs to dominate EU summit

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EU leaders to reaffirm support for Ukraine

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Zelenskiy invited to attend first part of talks

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EU must present united front on trade, say diplomats

(Updates with Zelenskiy, Costa comments at start of summit ,

changes media identifier to UKRAINE-CRISIS/EU)

By Philip Blenkinsop and Lili Bayer

BRUSSELS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Donald Trump on Thursday to ally with

Europe to stop Russia and save his country amid fears the NATO

sceptic U.S. President-elect could deal a setback to Kyiv by

cutting American support for its war effort.

"We need very much unity between the United States and EU

and countries of Europe," Zelenskiy said before addressing

European Union leaders at the start of an EU summit dominated by

the Ukraine war that Trump has vowed to end.

"We need this unity to achieve peace. I think only together

the United States and Europe can really stop Putin and save

Ukraine," Zelenskiy continued, referring to Russian President

Vladimir Putin.

EU diplomats have said the leaders aim to send a clear

signal to Trump about their continued support for Ukraine and

will stress that any peace settlement must involve Ukraine and

respect its territorial integrity.

Antonio Costa, chairing his first EU summit as the new

European Council president, said the EU would work for a just

and lasting peace.

"This war is not only about Ukraine, is not only about

Europe, (it) is about the international law. The international

law must prevail and the invasion must be defeated," he told

reporters beside Zelenskiy.

EU leaders are due to reaffirm their "unwavering commitment"

to supporting Ukraine "for as long as it takes", according to

draft summit conclusions.

Trump has repeatedly called for a swift end to the nearly

three-year-old war. On Monday he said Zelenskiy should be ready

to reach a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin,

though he did not say whether this meant Kyiv ceding territory

to Moscow as part of a negotiated settlement.

Russian forces currently occupy nearly a fifth of Ukrainian

territory and are making steady advances in the east of the

country.

EU draft conclusions for the summit say that "Russia must

not prevail", adding that no initiative must be taken on Ukraine

without Kyiv's involvement.

Zelenskiy's attendance at the EU summit follows talks with

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other European leaders on

Wednesday, aiming to get immediate help to bolster Kyiv's war

effort and discuss longer-term security guarantees.

While European leaders insist they are focusing on Ukraine's

immediate needs, some officials have begun discussing how to

assure the country's security after the war comes to a halt.

The EU leaders will also discuss wider EU-U.S. relations

over lunch amid concerns of a possible transatlantic trade war.

Trump has said the EU will "pay a big price" with tariffs

for not buying enough U.S. exports. He has already pledged hefty

tariffs on three of the United States' largest trading partners

- Canada, Mexico and China. The EU knows it will not be spared.

UNITY

Some EU diplomats said the key for the bloc would be unity

and avoidance of Washington conducting discussions or deals with

single EU members - a copy of its largely successful unified

strategy for dealing with Britain during Brexit negotiations.

"The U.S. might try individual negotiations but so far I

have not seen countries falling for that," one EU diplomat said.

The EU will seek to point out that it is the United States'

second-biggest trading partner and a close ally with shared

values. However, mindful that Trump is preoccupied by the U.S.

goods trade deficit, EU officials have mooted potentially

offering to buy more U.S. LNG or arms.

The lunchtime "EU in the world" debate is also likely to

include China and whether the bloc will be forced to take sides

in a U.S.-China trade conflict as well as Britain, which has

said it wants to reset ties with the European Union and is seen

by the bloc as a crucial security ally.