Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in London as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to end the war. The talks on Monday followed several days of US-Ukraine negotiations that ended without a breakthrough, with the Ukrainian president describing them as “constructive, although not easy”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy in Downing Street after the two men met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Starmer insisted he “won’t be putting pressure” on Zelenskyy to accept a peace settlement, while Merz expressed “scepticism” over the US proposal. The Élysée Palace said France planned more work to provide Ukraine with robust security guarantees.
An official in Kyiv familiar with the talks told AFP that territory remained the most problematic issue, saying “Putin does not want to enter into an agreement without territory” and that the US was pressuring Ukraine to move “faster, faster, faster”. The official added that Ukraine “cannot agree to everything without working out the details”.
US President Donald Trump doubled down on his position on Sunday, suggesting Zelenskyy “hasn’t yet read the proposal” and claiming without evidence that “his people love it”. However, recent polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology suggests a majority of Ukrainians remain opposed to territorial concessions.
After the London meeting, Zelenskyy was due to meet senior Nato officials and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected in Washington on Monday to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with the Foreign Office saying the two will “reaffirm their commitment to reaching a peace deal in Ukraine”.
