Keir Starmer holds crunch talks with Donald Trump at ‘crucial second’ for Ukraine
The Prime Minister spoke with US President Donald Trump, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as the White House pushes for a quick end to the war
Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump at a “critical moment” for Ukraine, No10 has said.
The Prime Minister was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the call. The leaders said “intensive work” on bringing Vladimir Putin’s bloody war to an end will continue in the coming days.
It comes after Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, described the US President as “the only western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable”.
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It comes after Trump described European leaders as “weak” and accused them of letting Kyiv fight “until they drop”. Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it would hand its latest peace proposals to US negotiators ahead of crunch talks with allies on Thursday. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz today.
“The leaders discussed the latest on the ongoing US-led peace talks, welcoming their efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, and to see an end to the killing.
“Intensive work on the peace plan is continuing and will continue in the coming days. They agreed that this was a critical moment – for Ukraine, its people and for shared security across the Euro-Atlantic region.”
The call came a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from around 30 nations supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war on acceptable terms. Mr Trump is pushing for a settlement and has called for an election in Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered. Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting is reducing Kyiv’s room for manoeuvre.
Mr Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Mr Trump he is willing to make some compromises. This is despite Moscow showing no public sign of budging from its demands.
Ukraine’s European allies are backing Mr Zelensky’s efforts to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks, as well as accommodating Europe’s defence interests. The French government said Ukraine’s allies – dubbed the Coalition of the Willing – will discuss the negotiations on Thursday via video.
“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin that “we are currently witnessing considerable diplomatic momentum” in peace efforts. Mr Zelensky said discussions with the US were scheduled later Wednesday to focus on a document detailing plans for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and economic development.
Also, Ukraine is finalising work on a separate, 20-point framework for ending the war. Mr Zelensky said Kyiv expects to submit that document to Washington in the near future.
Putin has repeatedly complained that Mr Zelensky cannot legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term in office that began in 2019 has expired. A new US national security strategy released last week made it clear that Trump wants to improve America’s relationship with Moscow and “re-establish strategic stability with Russia“.
The document also portrays European allies as weak. Russian foreign minister Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, saying in a speech at the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue”.
