Sir Keir Starmer has hailed a "breakthrough" in efforts to end the war in Ukraine as Donald Trump announced he would broker a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. The Prime Minister joined French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington on Monday for crucial talks with Volodymyr Zelensky and the US President.
Starmer said work with the US on security guarantees could start as soon as Tuesday. "The two outcomes were a real significant breakthrough when it comes to security guarantees, because we're now going to be working with the US on those security guarantees," he told the BBC. "We've tasked our teams, some of them are even arriving tomorrow, to start the detailed work on that."
Trump said he had spoken directly with Vladimir Putin to begin planning a meeting between the Russian leader and Zelensky, which will then be followed by a three-way meeting involving himself. The US President said Moscow will "accept" multinational efforts to guarantee Ukraine's security.
Putin-Zelensky meeting arrangements
Trump announced he had called Putin to arrange the bilateral talks. "At the conclusion of the meetings, I called president Putin and began arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between president Putin and president Zelensky," he posted on Truth Social. "After the meeting takes place, we will have a trilat which would be the two presidents plus myself."
Zelensky said he was "ready" for bilateral and trilateral meetings. However, he told reporters that if Russia does "not demonstrate a will to meet, then we will ask the United States to act accordingly".
According to The Guardian, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Putin had agreed to meet Zelensky within two weeks. Future three-way talks "have a good chance" of stopping the conflict, Trump said.
Security guarantees and European coordination
The talks centred on "article five-style guarantees" similar to NATO's mutual defence provision, which could be offered without Ukraine joining the alliance. Starmer welcomed these plans, saying they would fit with his "coalition of the willing" group of countries.
Trump appeared to share conflicting views on whether a ceasefire was necessary to stop the war. "I don't think you need a ceasefire," he originally said, before later explaining that "all of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace".
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the US and Europe would "do more" on tariffs and sanctions against Russia if the country "is not playing ball" on direct talks with Ukraine. The discussions followed Trump's meeting with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, where he declared there was "no deal until there's a deal" to end more than three years of fighting.
Diplomatic breakthrough assessment
Starmer described the talks as "good and constructive" with a "real sense of unity" between the European leaders, Trump and Zelensky. The Prime Minister disrupted his holiday plans over the weekend to join calls before heading to Washington.
The Guardian reports that Ukraine proposed a $90 billion arms deal with the US as part of the security guarantees package. Trump said the Alaska summit had reinforced his belief that "peace is within reach" and that Putin had agreed Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelensky described the talks as "really good", saying they had been "the best" so far. The Ukrainian President said: "We are very happy with the president that all the leaders are here and security in Ukraine depends on the United States and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts."
Sources used: "PA Media", "BBC", "The Guardian", "The Times"
Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
