Zelensky to meet Starmer in UK after call with Trump
Editor's note: The story is being updated.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the latter's residence in Downing Street on Aug. 14, Sky News reported, citing Starmer's office.
The meeting will follow a joint call on Aug. 13 between Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump, and European leaders, during which the U.S. president pledged to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Starmer's office provided little detail about the agenda of his meeting with Zelensky, Sky News reported. The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Zelensky's office for comment.
Zelensky has been in close contact with European allies ahead of the high-stakes summit between Trump and Putin on Aug. 15, their first in-person meeting since Trump's return to office in January.
Speaking in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Aug. 13, Zelensky said that Trump had pledged to make a ceasefire "one of his priorities" in talks with Putin.
Trump described the conversation with Zelensky and the European leaders as "very friendly," saying he would "rate it a 10." He also noted the possibility of a second meeting after his planned summit with Putin.
According to Merz, European leaders are doing everything possible to steer the planned meeting between Trump and Putin "in the right direction."
"We want the correct sequence: first, a ceasefire — this must be at the very beginning. Later, there may be a framework agreement. Third, Ukraine is ready to negotiate on talks and territorial issues, but our starting point is the contact line," the chancellor said.
A source cited by Axios said Trump told the leaders that he could not make final decisions on territorial issues but believed "land swaps" would likely be part of any peace agreement.
Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the U.S. is ready to provide security guarantees once peace is established, but that NATO membership is not on the table as a possible guarantee.
After a later meeting of the coalition of the willing co-chaired by Macron, Starmer, and Merz, the European leaders rejected any limitations on Ukraine's military or NATO and EU aspirations as part of a peace deal.
The coalition also reaffirmed readiness to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, "including through plans by those willing to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased."
Since returning to office in January, Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow — efforts that quickly stalled as Russia repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and pushed maximalist demands during peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Publicly, Putin has demanded a ban on Ukraine's NATO membership and a full Ukrainian withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among other conditions.
Zelensky has rejected the possibility of recognizing the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory and ceding additional land, calling for a ceasefire as the first step toward peace negotiations, a position supported by Kyiv's European allies.
