European allies say now is key to step up support for Ukraine

European leaders say “now is a critical moment” to step up support for Ukraine and pressure Russia to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to discuss the latest version of a peace plan drafted last week by Ukrainian and U.S. officials.

There, European leaders said more needed to be done to secure security guarantees in Ukraine as the United States pressured Kyiv to reach a speedy deal with Russia.

Zelensky, who has traveled to Brussels to meet with NATO officials, said Ukraine would share the revised plan with the United States on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials spent three days in Florida last week with a U.S. negotiating team pushing for changes to a U.S.-backed peace proposal widely seen as favorable to Russia.

“The most certainly anti-Ukrainian views have been removed,” Zelensky said in response to a reporter’s question after a meeting in London on Monday. Starting with the original deal proposed in November.

But Ukraine’s president admitted there were some outstanding concerns about ceding territory and “no compromise has yet been found”.

The United States has proposed that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from the eastern region that Russia has tried to seize by force but failed to fully capture, in exchange for Russia withdrawing troops elsewhere and halting fighting.

But this is an unacceptable choice for Zelensky, who has refused to reward Moscow for its aggression and has repeatedly warned that Russia would use any foothold in the east to launch future attacks on Ukraine.

“In principle, Americans tend to seek compromise,” Zelensky said on Monday.

Zelensky added that security issues – which Ukraine is pushing to ensure that future Russian attacks are prevented if a peace deal is reached – have not yet been resolved.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office said: “Leaders agree that now is a critical moment when we must continue to step up support for Ukraine and put economic pressure on Putin to end this barbaric war.”

“The leaders discussed the importance of US-led peace talks for European security and supported the progress achieved,” the statement said.

The leaders also “stressed the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine that includes strong security guarantees,” the statement added.

Ahead of talks hosted by Downing Street, Starmer said a peace deal in Ukraine needed “strong security guarantees”.

Mertz said he was “sceptical” about some details of the potential peace plan proposed by the United States. “But we have to talk about it. That’s why we’re here,” he added.

After the meeting, France said it would “step up” its efforts to provide security for Kiev.

Kyiv and Europe as a whole are concerned that the United States may end its support for Ukraine due to slow progress in negotiations. “We can’t govern without Americans, we can’t govern without Europe, and that’s why we need to make some important decisions,” Zelensky said in London.

While the White House has been urging Kyiv and Moscow to quickly agree on a multi-point plan to end the war, there are few signs of a breakthrough.

A five-hour meeting in Moscow last week between U.S. envoy Steve Witkov and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce tangible results.

The talks followed three days of discussions in Miami between Zelensky’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and his American counterparts, with both sides issuing vague but positive statements of “progress.”

However, Trump on Sunday accused Zelensky of not reading the revised draft peace agreement.

“I’m a little disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t read the proposal yet,” he said, while insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “agrees with it.”

Zelensky said almost simultaneously that he expected to be briefed on the negotiations by Umerov in London or Brussels on Monday. “Some issues can only be discussed in person,” he said.

The talks in London are the latest attempt by Ukraine’s European allies to play a role in U.S.-led efforts to end the war, which they fear will harm the continent’s long-term interests in favor of a quick fix.

Despite intense economic pressure and ongoing battlefield losses, the Kremlin has shown few signs of willingness to compromise on its key demands, including ruling out any future path for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance.

Last week, Putin also reiterated his willingness to continue fighting until his troops take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, 85% of which are currently occupied by Russian forces.

As negotiations between the United States and Europe continued, so did the war.

Russian forces struck nine areas from Sunday to Monday using drones, glide bombs and missiles, killing 10 people and wounding 47 others.

Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed and injured, and Ukrainian cities have come under almost nightly artillery fire.