Sir Keir Starmer will hold talks on Ukraine with allies in the coalition of the willing as peace efforts surrounding a US-led plan to end the war continue.
The Prime Minister is expected to co-chair a call with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and leaders and officials from around 30 other nations on Thursday.
It comes after US President Donald Trump said he and European leaders had discussed proposals to end the war in “pretty strong terms” after speaking with the British, French and German leaders by phone on Wednesday.
He also claimed that Mr Zelensky, “has to be realistic” about the war and that European leaders would like a meeting this coming weekend with both the US and Ukraine.
“We’ll make a determination depending on what they come back with,” the president told reporters during a question-and-answer session at the White House.
Mr Zelensky, who reiterated his opposition to ceding land and resisted US pressure for concessions to Russia earlier this week, said his team was due to hand its latest peace proposals to American negotiators on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s European allies are supporting his efforts to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future attacks from Moscow, as well as accommodating the continent’s defence interests.
Following their call with Mr Trump on Wednesday, Downing Street said all the leaders agreed it was a “critical moment” for the future of Ukraine and Euro-Atlantic security.
“Intensive work on the peace plan is continuing and will continue in the coming days,” a No 10 spokesman said.
Mr Trump has been critical of Ukraine’s European allies, denigrating them as “weak” leaders of “decaying” nations failing to “produce” anything as “the war just keeps going on and on”.
The US national security strategy, published earlier this month, said “the Trump Administration finds itself at odds with European officials who hold unrealistic expectations for the war perched in unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition”.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would hold talks with the US on plans for post-war reconstruction and economic development.
Kyiv is also working on a 20-point document “that could define the parameters for ending the war”.
Along with Thursday’s coalition of the willing talks, Mr Zelensky said: “This week may bring news for all of us – and for bringing the bloodshed to an end.”
