Donald Trump has claimed to be organising a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to reach a peace deal. The Mirror looks at what could happen next
Keir Starmer said today European and US leaders are drawing up “robust” plans to defend Ukraine if a peace deal is struck with Moscow.
Less than 24 hours after crunch White House talks, the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron chaired a meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’. Earlier this year Mr Starmer insisted that Britain is prepared to put boots on the ground and planes in the air in the event of a deal to end the three-year conflict.
After the meeting wrapped up, A No10 spokesman said the PM had told those on the call “there was a real sense of unity and shared goal of securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine” during meetings with President Trump.
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The PM also said the Coalition’s military planning teams will “meet with their US counterparts in the coming days to further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees and prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended”. Here The Mirror looks at what could happen next.
What happened at the White House?
European leaders flanked Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky for crunch talks at the White House on Monday evening in an unprecedented show of unity. Donald Trump updated them on the US-Russia summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday where the Russian tyrant was given the red-carpet treatment.
European allies had feared a repeat of the Ukrainian wartime leader’s first visit to the Oval Office back in February where he was ambushed by Mr Trump and Vice President, JD Vance. But Monday’s high-stakes meeting was a far more cordial affair with promises of further talks.
Keir Starmer left the White House saying there had been a “real significant breakthrough” in security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. The Prime Minister also said there had been “real movement” on the next stage of negotiations.
What happens next?
One of the key takeaways from Monday’s meeting was Mr Trump’s claim to be brokering a one-to-one meeting between Ukraine’s Zelensky and Mr Putin.
If the meeting goes ahead – and it’s a big if – it will only be the second time the pair have met and the first since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022.
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The German Chancellor has suggested the meeting could take place within two weeks – but there has been no public commitment from the Kremlin so far. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has suggested they should meet in a “neutral country” and said he was pushing for Geneva, in Switzerland.
The US President has then proposed a ‘trilateral’ meeting to follow – between the United States, Russia and Ukraine to discuss next steps.
What did the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ discuss?
European leaders are busy at work on military planning in the event of a peace deal. A group of 30-plus nations – the Coalition of the Willing – have signed up to help defend Ukraine if a deal is struck. Its aim is to act as a deterrent for future attacks from Moscow.
Keir Starmer has previously said he is willing to put UK troops on the ground and planes in the sky as part of any peacekeeping force in Ukraine. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister and Mr Macron updated the countries on talks at the White House as they chaired a meeting of the group.
During the meeting Mr Starmer said military planning teams will soon meet with US teams to “strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees” to Ukraine.
What is the US prepared to do?
European allies have long insisted the US is vital to guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. Donald Trump swerved a question in the Oval Office on Monday on whether the US would be willing to put boots on the ground in Ukraine to help secure any peace deal.
He suggested on Tuesday the US would offer air support to Ukraine, bragging that there was no other country with the “kind of stuff we have”.
Will there be a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv?
Downing Street has always insisted Putin has never been serious about the prospect of peace.
That appeared evident when Moscow’s drones and missiles rained down on Ukraine – even as European leaders met at the White House to discuss the possibility of an end to three-year war.
Reports also suggested Putin’s price for peace would be for Ukraine to hand over land the Kremlin does not occupy – something Mr Zelensky has dismissed. The US President himself said on Tuesday it is “possible he [Putin] doesn’t want to make a deal”.
The coming weeks will be crucial but it is clear European leaders are pushing to ramp up sanctions to turn the screws on Moscow’s war machine once again if talks collapse.
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