Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Downing Street on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s US-Russia summit in Alaska.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting with the Ukrainian president comes a day after he warned that Britain stands ready to “increase pressure” on Russia if necessary.
US President Donald Trump has likewise threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if a ceasefire is rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin at Friday’s meeting.
During a call with Trump and European allies on Wednesday, Starmer praised the US president for his work to bring forward a “viable” chance of an end to the war.
However, concerns have been raised over the Ukrainian president’s exclusion from Friday’s meeting.
European leaders have consistently stated that discussions around Ukraine’s peace should not take place without his involvement.
On Wednesday, Trump claimed there could be a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin “almost immediately” after the Alaska summit.
Speaking after a round of virtual meetings with European leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters: “If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one.”
“I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
Trump said “great” things could be achieved with his meeting in Alaska with Putin on Friday, but said its primary purpose was “setting the table for the second meeting”.
“We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly,” he told reporters in Washington.
Speaking on Wednesday, Starmer said: “This meeting on Friday that President Trump is attending is hugely important.”“As I’ve said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven’t got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.”
“And now we do have that chance, because of the work that the president has put in.”
Both the US and the UK have threatened consequences should Russia fail to engage meaningfully in the discussions.
Starmer said that further sanctions could be imposed, and the UK is already working on the next package of measures targeting Moscow.
“We’re ready to support this, including from the plans we’ve already drawn up to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased,” he told allies.
“It is important to remind colleagues that we do stand ready also to increase pressure on Russia, particularly the economy, with sanctions and wider measures as may be necessary.”
The US president has previously suggested a truce between the two nations could involve some “swapping” of land.
It is believed one of the Russian leader’s demands is for Ukraine to cede parts of the Donbas region which it still controls.
But Zelenskyy has already rejected any proposal that would compromise Ukraine’s existing borders, something that is forbidden by the country’s constitution.
A joint statement from the Coalition of the Willing, which is co-chaired by Sir Keir, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said “international borders must not be changed by force”.
It added: “Sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy should be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire in Alaska.”
The coalition is made up of 31 countries that have pledged strengthened support for Kyiv, including 27 European countries, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
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