Starmer hosts Ukraine's Zelenskyy ahead of high-stakes Trump-Putin meeting

Al Jazeera

2 days ago

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street as Europe braces for the outcome of a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin later this week.
The talks in London on Thursday come after Starmer said Britain was ready to 'increase pressure' on Moscow if necessary, signalling new sanctions should the Kremlin reject a ceasefire in its war on Ukraine.
Trump, meanwhile, warned Russia of 'severe consequences' if it refuses to halt its military campaign. Speaking after a call with Trump and European allies on Wednesday, Starmer praised the United States leader for helping to create what he described as a 'viable' opening to end the war.
'This meeting on Friday that President Trump is attending is hugely important,' Starmer told reporters.
'As I've said personally to President Trump for the three and a bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven't got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire. And now we do have that chance, because of the work that the president has put in,' added Starmer.
Zelenskyy is due to meet Starmer at 9:30am local time (08:30 GMT) at the British prime minister's official residence, 10 Downing Street.
The Trump-Putin meeting, due to take place in Alaska on Friday, has stirred unease in Kyiv over Zelenskyy's exclusion. Starmer and other European leaders have repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must be part of any talks on its future.
Asked if he had deliberately left Zelenskyy out of the Alaska meeting, Trump replied: 'No, just the opposite,' adding that a second meeting with the Ukrainian leader could follow.
'We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly,' Trump said. 'There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first.'
The US president has previously floated the idea of a territorial 'swap' as part of a truce. It is believed Putin is demanding Ukraine hand over the remaining parts of the Donbas region it still holds, a proposal Zelenskyy has already rejected, stressing that Ukraine's constitution forbids surrendering territory.
In a joint statement, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, co-chaired by Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, warned that 'international borders must not be changed by force'. The group also said sanctions on Russia's war economy should be strengthened if Moscow refuses a ceasefire in Alaska.