London, Mar 3: The U.K. will work with France and other countries to arrive at a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia and present that to U.S. President Donald Trump. This sequence of events was outlined by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday, following unprecedented scenes from the Oval Office on Friday where an argument erupted between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance.“We’ve now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States,” Starmer said during a BBC interview on Sunday.
Starmer had spoken with Mr. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Zelenskyy and they had agreed to the new sequence of play towards a deal, he said.
After the acrimonious interaction in Washington, Zelenskyy was received warmly in London on Saturday (March 1, 2025), welcomed by Mr. Starmer with a hug outside No.10 Downing Street. The two men held bilateral talks ahead of Sunday’s summit meeting between European leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Following the Summit, Starmer said the countries had agreed a four-step process that would involve continued aid to Ukraine and economic pressure on Russia. The process would also require Ukraine to have a seat at the negotiating table. Third, it would involve boosting Ukraine’s defences and, finally, a “coalition of the willing” would guarantee the peace after any ceasefire.
Starmer indicated that some — not all — of the countries present at the summit would be part of this coalition.
Europe must ”do the heavy lifting” for a peace deal, Starmer said, as he reiterated the need for any deal to have U.S. backing. The British Prime Minister suggested that Trump supported this, else he [Starmer] would not have been exploring the idea further. He also defended the U.S.’s reliability as an ally.