Zelensky to visit London amid push for peace
President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with his British counterpart Keir Starmer in London on Dec. 8, as peace negotiations to end Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continue, he told Ukrainian media RBC-Ukraine on Dec. 6.
The meeting comes as Ukrainian officials have been holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in Miami over the last two days.
Before confirming the London trip, Zelensky said he needs to speak with the Ukrainian delegation, including chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
"I am still waiting to talk to the United States, to our team there in the United States. And if everything is active, we will be in London," he told reporters.
Alongside Starmer, Zelensky will also meet the French and German leaders, the Independent reported. In London, the leaders will discuss the ongoing talks between the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia.
The peace negotiations have largely sidelined Europe. Following the release of the U.S.’s controversial 28-point peace plan last month, European leaders raced to help craft a counter 19-point plan in Geneva on Nov. 23.
Many viewed the initial 28-point plan as effectively pushing Ukraine toward capitulation in Russia's all-out war.
Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, attended earlier talks in Florida on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
After several rounds of talks, Zelensky announced on Dec. 2 that the revised plan comprises 20 points. The key sensitive topics still up for discussion include territory, the use of frozen Russian assets, and security guarantees for Ukraine.
The Miami meeting follows Witkoff and Kushner's visit to Moscow to discuss the revised peace plan with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who participated in the talks, described the meeting as "very useful, constructive, and highly substantive," but noted that no concrete agreement was reached.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Dec. 3, Trump referred to the meeting between the U.S. delegation and Putin as productive.
