Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in London amid heavy pressure from the Trump administration for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to end the war quickly. The talks on Monday followed several days of negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials, which ended on Saturday without an apparent breakthrough and were described by the Ukrainian president as “constructive, although not easy”.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy in Downing Street after the two men met earlier with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the 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, with the US pressing for a quick deal. “The Americans are pressuring, like ‘faster, faster, faster,’” the source said, adding that Ukraine “cannot agree to everything without working out the details”. Trump doubled down on Sunday, suggesting Zelenskyy “hasn’t yet read the [US] proposal” and claiming without evidence that “his people love it”.
Starmer, Macron and Merz took a more supportive stance toward Kyiv. Starmer said the push for peace was at a “critical stage” and stressed the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire”. Merz said he was “sceptical” about some details in documents released by the US. Trump’s claim that his plan enjoys Ukrainian public support is contradicted by recent polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, which suggests a majority of Ukrainians remain opposed to territorial concessions.
After the London meeting, Zelenskyy was due to meet senior Nato officials and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels. The British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, is expected in Washington on Monday to meet her US counterpart, Marco Rubio. The European talks follow the publication of a new US national security strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia.
