United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to show united leadership for peace in Ukraine when they separately meet with United States President Donald Trump this week.
According to Downing Street, the two leaders spoke on Sunday afternoon to reiterate the importance of Ukraine being at the centre of negotiations.
“The UK and Europe must continue stepping up to meet their security needs and show united leadership in support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, which they would both discuss in the US in the coming week,” the Downing Street statement said.
The meeting comes as both European leaders present a united position against Russia’s attacks after Trump escalated his attacks on Ukraine calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” on Truth Social.
Zelenskyy was elected president in May 2019 and said he would be willing to give up the presidency in exchange for peace in Ukraine during a press conference on Sunday.
Both Starmer and the Nato secretary general agreed that “there could be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine”.
At the same time, the White House has also put pressure on Zelenskyy to sign a US$500 billion minerals deal that would give the US half of Ukraine’s minerals.
