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In a powerful display of solidarity, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Thursday, just hours before a pivotal U.S.-Russia summit from which Kyiv and its European allies have been excluded.
On the steps of 10 Downing Street, Starmer greeted Zelensky with a warm hug and handshake, capping a day in which the Ukrainian leader also joined a virtual call with U.S. President Donald Trump. That call came on the eve of Trump’s high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, set for Friday at an air base in Alaska — Putin’s first appearance on Western soil since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
With Russia intensifying its offensive and Ukraine left off the guest list for the Anchorage talks, fears are mounting that Trump and Putin could reach an agreement forcing Kyiv into painful concessions.
Starmer, however, struck a cautious note of optimism. He said Wednesday there was now a “viable” chance for a ceasefire after more than three years of war. “For three and a bit years this conflict has been going, we haven’t got anywhere near… a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire,” he told fellow European leaders. “Now we do have that chance, because of the work that the (US) president has put in.”
Read also: Putin, Trump to hold high-stakes Alaska talks on Ukraine peace deal – Kremlin
The war showed no signs of abating Thursday. Near the front line, Ukraine launched dozens of drones into Russia overnight, wounding three people and igniting fires, including one at an oil refinery in Volgograd. Kyiv described the strikes as justified retaliation for Moscow’s daily missile and drone assaults on Ukrainian civilians.
Zelensky — who has repeatedly vowed not to cede Ukrainian territory — joined Wednesday’s call with Trump from Berlin, alongside European leaders who later expressed confidence that Washington was aiming for a ceasefire rather than a settlement at Ukraine’s expense.
Trump’s stance remains ambiguous. He has floated the possibility of a quick follow-up “three-way” meeting with both Zelensky and Putin but has also warned he might scrap it entirely. “There may be no second meeting because, if I feel that it’s not appropriate… then we are not going to have a second meeting,” Trump said Wednesday. “If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” he added.
Zelensky, who endured a tense exchange with Trump during a February White House visit, voiced scepticism despite his public support for U.S. diplomacy. “I have told my colleagues — the US president and our European friends — that Putin definitely does not want peace,” he said.
> NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was more blunt about the stakes: “The ball is now in Putin’s court.”
Source: RipplesNigeria | Read Full Story…
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