Over the weekend, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer floated a framework for a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine.
During the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Starmer said that European countries need to do more to help Ukraine with security guarantees should a peace deal materialize. EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, joined Starmer at the summit in London.
The discussion on Sunday comes on the heels of the heated exchange between President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Zelenskyy. On Friday, during the Ukrainian president’s visit to the White House to discuss U.S. access to mineral rights in the Eastern European nation, the exchange began to sour. At one point, Vance told Zelenskyy he was being “disrespectful.”
Within 48 hours, the Ukrainian president was meeting with UK and European leaders who expressed strong support for the president. Starmer even went as far as saying the UK is prepared to deploy troops to Ukraine alongside air force assets to help maintain any potential peace arrangements. Even still, the UK prime minister conceded the plan would still rely heavily on American support.
Macron later told French media that EU leaders were considering a plan to temporarily prohibit strikes in Ukraine from the air and sea on energy infrastructure. The proposed 30-day pause would then be used to develop and negotiate a broader peace deal.
Despite the heated exchange in Washington, Zelenskyy says he is still willing to sign a rare earth minerals agreement with the U.S. The day after the meeting with Trump and Vance, the Ukrainian president took to the social media platform X to offer his thanks.
“We are very grateful to the United States for all the support. I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people. Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion,” posted Zelenskyy.
“America’s help has been vital in helping us survive, and I want to acknowledge that. Despite the tough dialogue, we remain strategic partners. But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals.”
However, later in the thread, Zelenskyy said he does not think a ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin is possible.
“A ceasefire won’t work with Putin. He has broken ceasefires 25 times over the last ten years. A real peace is the only solution,” he continued.