Keir Starmer To Join Zelensky's Meeting With Trump In Washington
The Prime Minister will join other European leaders in Washington (Alamy)
2 min read
Keir Starmer will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders for a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.
The Prime Minister will travel to the US alongside allies, including NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The group will join Zelensky's meeting with Trump in the White House after the latter held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday on bringing the war in Ukraine to an end.
The meeting concluded without a peace agreement, and it has since been reported that Putin demanded parts of eastern Ukraine in exchange for an end to fighting.
On Saturday, Starmer praised Trump's efforts to secure a peace deal and said that the president had "brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine".
Starmer said that the next step had to include "further talks involving President Zelensky" and said the UK would "keep tightening the screws on [Putin's] war machine with even more sanctions" until the "barbaric assault" comes to an end.
On Sunday afternoon, European leaders will hold an online meeting to discuss how they will provide Ukraine with security guarantees in the event of a peace agreement, as part of what they call a 'Coalition of the Willing'.
European governments are hopeful that the US will contribute to Ukraine's protection from future Russian aggression.
Downing Street said on Sunday that Starmer was ready to support this next phase of further talks and would reaffirm that UK support for Ukraine's will continue for as long as it takes.
In February, Zelensky and Trump clashed in a White House meeting over the future of peace negotiations with Russia.
During an extraordinary scene in the Oval Office, which prompted Starmer to host Zelensky in London 24 hours later, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three”.
