European leaders gathered in London on Monday to offer a coordinated show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meeting at what they described as a critical moment as the United States presses Kyiv to consider a proposed peace deal with Russia.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted the hastily arranged meeting at Downing Street with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelenskiy. The leaders said they aimed to develop a unified European position as Kyiv weighs its response to the U.S. proposal.
European officials fear Ukraine could face pressure to accept terms that favor Moscow, especially after Washington released its ceasefire framework last month. The publication of the plan has intensified diplomatic activity among Ukraine’s allies, who worry that any rushed or unbalanced agreement could threaten long-term security across Europe.
A senior British government source said the leaders would discuss how to use the value of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv, following calls from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden for the EU to move faster on the measure.
Starmer said the meeting came at a defining moment nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“Very good to see you here at a critical stage now in the push for peace,” he told the leaders. “We stand with Ukraine, and if there is to be a ceasefire, it must be a just and lasting one.”
Macron and Merz echoed the same message, with the German chancellor describing the moment as “decisive for all of us.”
Zelenskiy, calling this the start of a “new diplomatic week,” told Ukrainians in a Sunday night address that the London meeting would focus on security guarantees, air defense, long-term funding, and coordination ahead of negotiations on the U.S. plan.
“First and foremost, security issues, support for our resilience, and support packages for our defense,” he said. “We will discuss a shared vision and common positions in the negotiations.”
Ukraine is facing one of the hardest phases of the nearly four-year war. Russian forces continue to advance slowly in the east, while Ukrainian cities endure lengthy power cuts caused by intensified strikes on the energy grid and other critical infrastructure.
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The heightened diplomatic push follows a visit last week by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who delivered a revised peace proposal in Moscow before holding several days of follow-up talks with Ukrainian officials in Miami. Those meetings ended Saturday without a breakthrough.
Trump said on Sunday he was “disappointed” with Zelenskiy, claiming the Ukrainian president had not yet read the most recent version of the U.S. plan.
Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said he would brief Zelenskiy on all documents and discussions with American officials. “The primary task of the Ukrainian team was to obtain full information from the American side about their conversation in Moscow and all drafts of current proposals,” he said.
U.S. officials said they were in the final stage of shaping a framework agreement, but both Ukraine and Russia have shown few signs of accepting the terms drafted by Trump’s negotiating team.