Sir Keir Starmer (Labour) hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street this morning as Europe braces for historic talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. The Prime Minister's meeting comes as Britain stands ready to "increase pressure" on Russia if necessary through further sanctions.
The diplomatic sequence marks the first viable chance for a Ukraine ceasefire in over three years of conflict. Starmer said: "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 of that the president has put in."
Trump threatens consequences
Trump warned Russia of "severe consequences" if the Kremlin rejects a ceasefire. During Wednesday's call with European allies, Starmer praised Trump's efforts to bring forward peace prospects.
Meanwhile, reports from Mirror suggest Putin has warned of nuclear war after unleashing "another night of hell on Ukraine". Concerns have emerged over Zelensky's exclusion from the Trump-Putin meeting, though Trump indicated a second meeting with the Ukrainian president could follow.
Territorial negotiations loom
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, because the first is I'm going to find out where we are and what we're doing." The US President has previously suggested a truce could involve some "swapping" of land.
Russia's demands are believed to include Ukraine ceding parts of the Donbas region it still controls. However, Zelensky has rejected any proposal compromising Ukraine's territorial integrity, which is forbidden by the country's constitution.
European peacekeeping plans
The Coalition of the Willing, co-chaired by Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is preparing to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine in the event of a truce. A joint statement from the coalition said: "international borders must not be changed by force."
The group added: "Sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy should be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire in Alaska." Britain is already working on its next package of measures targeting Moscow's economy.
Sources used: "PA Media", "WalesOnline", "Mirror" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
