Ukraine leader embraced in No 10 and given £2.26bn defence loan one day after his White House dressing down
Keir Starmer has described his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “meaningful and warm”, according to Downing Street.
The British prime minister met the Ukrainian president on Saturday evening, just 24 hours after Zelenskyy’s meeting with the US president, Donald Trump, and vice-president, JD Vance, in Washington.
Continue reading...The showdown between the US president and the Ukrainian leader dumbfounded various outlets and politicos
One television star turned president visits another far more powerful one on a stage set and attempts to introduce a plot twist of sorts. What could go wrong?
The high-stakes White House showdown that unfolded on Friday after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, demanded US security guarantees was deemed a damaging setback to Donald Trump’s goal of forging a peace deal – and a win for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin – by some US political commentators.
Continue reading...Europe can’t wait to react to Trump’s mood swings but must show we have the will and the wallet to take back control
It’s exhausting and humiliating to have no control – watching every meeting in the Oval Office for a glimmer of Trump’s approval or displeasure, our security resting on a perceived slight or a mood.
The last week of meetings between Trump, Macron, Starmer and finally Zelenskyy always felt like crawling across a minefield. Some might agonise about whether Zelenskyy could have played things differently. It’s the wrong question. The point is that we can’t carry on being so dependent on every meeting at the White House. Until we start taking charge of our future, we will always be one heart palpitation away from dreading doomsday.
Continue reading...As he attempts to repair relations, the prime minister is being forced closer to a choice between the US and Europe
As Keir Starmer surveys the wreckage of the US-Ukrainian relationship caused by the Oval Office bar-room fight, the UK prime minister is clearly intent on trying to repair the diplomatic damage, but it may be that the mood of mutual antagonism not just in the US, but in Europe, is too great.
It is not as if Starmer, to use Trump’s blunt phraseology, has many cards left to play. He had already played them, and his hand was not strong enough to prevent the US-Ukraine breakdown.
Continue reading...Vance snaked his way in first to the row between Trump and Zelenskyy, his second intrusion this month after Munich
JD Vance was supposed to be the inconsequential vice-president.
But his starring role in Friday’s blowup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – where he played a cross between Trump’s bulldog and tech bro Iago – may mark the moment that the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally collapsed.
Continue reading...PM pledges support for Ukraine but declines to directly comment on US president’s approach as community rallies in Sydney
Anthony Albanese has reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine after a fiery meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But even as Sydney’s Ukrainian community rallied in protest, the prime minister declined to comment directly on how the confrontation might affect Australia’s relationship with the US.
US military support for Ukraine hangs in the balance and talks over a minerals deal deteriorated after a disastrous interchange at the White House that also included the US vice-president, JD Vance. The US president claimed his Ukraine counterpart was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”, before Zelenskyy left the White House early.
Continue reading...Ukraine president expresses regret over contentious meeting but says relationship with Trump can be salvaged
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed regret that an Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump devolved into a shocking display of acrimony between the leaders of two historically allied nations, while insisting that their relationship could be salvaged.
Hours after the public confrontation in which Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of “gambling with world war three,” the Ukrainian leader defended himself during an in-studio interview on Fox News, while also agreeing that the dispute was “not good for both sides”.
Continue reading...Prime minister will host more than a dozen countries over weekend as Europe tries to secure deal to end war
Keir Starmer will hold talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni in Downing Street on Sunday before a major London defence summit aimed at securing “lasting and enforced” peace in Ukraine.
Fresh from his trip to see Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, Starmer has headed back to London to host the defence summit, where more than a dozen world leaders will gather to discuss Ukraine.
Continue reading...As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, a number of questions remain unanswered
As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, questions remain over the future of Ukraine and the country’s war with Russia. Here are five things we don’t know about a possible deal to end the conflict.
Continue reading...Jeanne Shaheen discusses Trump’s demand that Kyiv grant US firms access to rare-earth reserves for helping end war
Donald Trump may be pursuing a mineral rights deal with Vladimir Putin and Russia as well as with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine, a top Senate Democrat has warned, discussing the US president’s demand that Kyiv grant US firms access to 50% of its rare-earth reserves, as a price for helping end the war three years after Russia invaded.
“I think anything that helps position Ukraine for any peace negotiations is a positive move,” said Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate foreign relations and armed services committee, who recently visited Ukraine.
Continue reading...UK prime minister faces major diplomatic effort to get president on board after he said no plans for US ‘backstop’
Keir Starmer has warned that Vladimir Putin could invade Ukraine again unless the US provides security guarantees as he arrived for critical talks with Donald Trump at the most precarious moment for European stability in decades.
With the future of Ukrainian security hanging in the balance, he urged the president to commit a US backstop to a British and French-led peacekeeping force, saying it was the only way to avoid Russia plunging Europe back into war.
Continue reading...President says ‘I hear he’s coming on Friday’ amid reports that terms of US-Ukraine aid exchange have been reached
Donald Trump has said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is likely to visit the White House on Friday to sign a rare earth minerals deal to pay for US military aid to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The announcement followed days of tense negotiations between the US and Ukraine in which Zelenskyy alleged the US was pressuring him to sign a deal worth more than $500bn that would force “10 generations” of Ukrainians to pay it back.
Continue reading...France’s Macron corrects US president’s claim that Europe has only loaned funds to Kyiv at White House meeting
Donald Trump has said the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the three-year war.
The US president was speaking alongside the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at the White House on Monday as the leaders sought to smooth over a transatlantic rift to achieve peace.
Continue reading...Starmer’s spokesperson says US intervention ‘could bring lasting peace’ as No 10 treads carefully before White House visit
Donald Trump has changed the global conversation around Ukraine “for the better”, Downing Street has said, as the UK imposed further sanctions on Russia in an effort to force Vladimir Putin to make concessions.
As world leaders marked the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said the US president had opened the door to talks that could bring lasting peace.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says US military aid was a ‘grant’ rather than a debt but adds that he wants Trump to be ‘on our side’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is not willing to cave in to intense US pressure to sign a $500bn minerals deal and that he wants Donald Trump to be “on our side” in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv ahead of the third anniversary on Monday of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy said he did not recognise the sum demanded by the White House as apparent “payback” for previous US military assistance.
Continue reading...Drones intercepted in at least 13 regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa, according to Ukrainian authorities
Volodymyr Zelenskyy added in his post on X earlier today that a “lasting and just peace” in Ukraine can only be achieved through the unity of all its allies, namely Europe and the US.
It comes after US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia this week, without Ukraine’s involvement, raising concerns in Kyiv and the EU that any deal to end the war will be favourable to Moscow.
Every day, our people stand against aerial terror. On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine — the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages. In total, nearly 1,150 attack drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles of various types were launched this week.
I thank everyone who repels such attacks on a daily basis—our aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups of the air force and defence forces. I also thank those on the ground who save lives and respond to the aftermath of shelling—the state emergency service, medics, and the national police. The war continues. Everyone capable of helping with air defense must work to enhance the protection of human life.
Continue reading...As the US upends decades of foreign policy, those watching the war unfold from miles away resolve to stand strong
Members of New York’s large Ukrainian community expressed a mix of disillusionment, betrayal, defiance and acute uncertainty about what the future holds for Ukraine after tensions escalated this week between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Geopolitical events in the last week have shocked Ukrainians at home and overseas as well as US lawmakers and allies, as the US president appeared to heavily favor the Russian president Vladimir Putin to dictate peace terms on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...The UK leader has been advised to choose his words carefully at this week’s crucial White House meeting
• Keir Starmer lays down Ukraine peace demand ahead of Trump talks
When Keir Starmer is advised on how to handle his crucial meeting with Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, he will be told by advisers from Downing Street and the Foreign Office to be very clear on his main points and, above all, to be brief.
“Trump gets bored very easily,” said one well-placed Whitehall source with knowledge of the president’s attention span. “When he loses interest and thinks someone is being boring, he just tunes out. He doesn’t like [the French president, Emmanuel] Macron partly because Macron talks too much and tries to lecture him.”
Continue reading...Moscow and Washington held their first talks on ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine on Tuesday
Some 62% of Britons believe Ukraine should be allowed into Nato, according to new polling.
The research by YouGov also suggested 68% think the UK should maintain its commitment to defend allies in the military bloc, but when asked specifically about defending the US this figure fell to 42%.
Continue reading...Keith Kellogg takes different tone from Trump, who contrasted ‘very good talks’ with Putin with cooler relationship with Ukraine’s leader
The US envoy to Ukraine, Gen Keith Kellogg, has praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war”, striking a dramatically different tone from Donald Trump, who has called Ukraine’s president a “dictator”.
Kellogg left Kyiv on Friday after a three-day visit. Posting on social media, he said he had engaged in “extensive and positive discussions” with Zelenskyy and his “talented national security team”. “A long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine,” he said.
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