Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
Sir Keir Starmer will meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday alongside other EU leaders as Ukraine considers next steps after US peace talks.
Mr Zelensky will meet Sir Keir in Downing Street along with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The meeting comes amid continued talks between Ukrainian and US officials on a Washington-backed plan to end the war. Ukraine’s negotiators were in Florida for three days last week for talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
On Sunday, cabinet minister Pat McFadden said that Ukraine’s security and self-determination would be “at the heart” of the leaders’ discussions in London. He said that talks were at a “really pivotal moment”.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who is due to step down in January, told a defence forum that a deal to end the Ukraine war was “really close” and that it now depended on resolving just two main outstanding issues.
open image in gallery
UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer sits with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky (Getty Images)
These are the future of Ukraine’s Donbas region and the Zaporzhzhia nuclear power plant. He told Reagan National Defence Forum: “If we get those two issues settled, I think the rest of the things will work out fairly well. We’re almost there.”
However, president Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Russian media as saying the US would have to make “radical changes to their papers” on Ukraine. He did not clarify what changes Moscow wanted Washington to make.
Despite progress being made on peace talks, Russia continued to bombard Ukraine with drone attacks overnight into Sunday.
open image in gallery
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said London talks come at ‘pivotal moment’ for Ukraine (PA)
Missile and drone attacks killed at least three people in Ukraine, according to regional police. A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region on Saturday night, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages.
Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraine’s biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.
Two people were also killed and seven others injured in shelling by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to the regional police.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov welcomed the Trump administration’s new national security strategy.
In comments published on Sunday by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, he said the strategy was “encouraging”.
“There are statements there against confrontation and in favour of dialogue and building good relations,” he added.
The document released on Friday by the White House makes clear that the US wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah, and that ending the war is a core US interest to “re-establish strategic stability with Russia”.