Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to number 10 Downing Street. Photo credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire
Sir Keir Starmer will join Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders for a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister and a host of European leaders will travel to Washington DC in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian leader, whose last visit to the Oval Office ended in a tumultuous spat with Mr Trump.
The US president is said to be mulling over Russia’s demands to bring an end to the war, which include a land grab of two occupied Ukrainian regions: Donetsk and Luhansk.
Conditions
Several media outlets have reported Mr Trump is planning to urge his Ukrainian counterpart to agree to the conditions as part of a peace deal to end the war.
The meeting follows the US president’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, where little in the way of progress appeared to be made.
However in the summit’s aftermath, Mr Trump appeared to adopt a change of tone in his language about brokering a peace, moving away from insisting that a ceasefire is needed before a long-term agreement to end the war is made.
This appeared to echo Mr Putin’s refusal to lay down arms ahead of a sustained peace.
Other leaders making the journey to Washington with Sir Keir include France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Nato chief Mark Rutte.
Bust-up
The leaders are likely travelling to the White House with the aim of avoiding a repeat performance of February’s public bust-up between Mr Zelensky and the American president, after which Mr Trump temporarily suspended aid to Ukraine.
Downing Street insisted Sir Keir and other allies stand ready to support the next phase of talks to end the war.
“At the meeting that will take place at the White House tomorrow, the Prime Minister, with other European partners, stands ready to support this next phase of further talks and will reaffirm that his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes,” a statement from No 10 said.
On Saturday Sir Keir commended Mr Trump for bringing the conflict “closer than ever” to an end.
The Prime Minister, along with France and Germany’s leaders, will host a call of the coalition of the willing on Sunday afternoon.
The coalition force aims to police a future peace deal by putting troops on the ground in Ukraine to deter Russian aggression.
‘Security guarantee’
European leaders on Saturday suggested Mr Trump had indicated he is now willing to provide American air support for the alliance, a “security guarantee” said to be vital to its operation.
Writing on social media on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian leader railed against Russia’s refusal to lay down arms temporarily before agreeing to end the war.
Mr Zelensky said: “We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing.
“This complicates the situation.”
He added: “If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbours for decades.
“But together we are working for peace and security. Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war.”
Mr Zelensky is expected to attend Sunday afternoon’s video call with leaders from the coalition of the willing, which is scheduled to take place at 2pm UK time.
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