Zelensky Arrives at Downing Street for Crucial Ukraine Talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky meets European leaders in London as Ukraine faces rising US pressure to make concessions in ongoing peace talks.

sarah

Dec 8, 2025 - 10:09

Zelensky Arrives at Downing Street for Crucial Ukraine Talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with key European leaders in London on Monday, as Ukraine's allies plan their response to ongoing US pressure for Kyiv to accept concessions in peace talks.

The leaders of France and Germany will join Zelensky and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at No. 10, as they seek to ensure that any agreement deters future Russian aggression.

This high-level meeting follows three days of talks in Florida, where Zelensky's chief negotiator pressed for changes to a White House plan widely believed to accommodate the Kremlin's main demands.

The US and Ukraine said progress had been made, but US President Donald Trump criticized Zelensky on Sunday, saying he "hadn't read the draft."

Trump told reporters that he was "a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't read the proposal yet; it was just a few hours ago."

He added: "Their people like it... [Russia] wants the whole country when you think about it, but I think Russia is okay with it—but I'm not sure Zelensky is okay with it."

Trump was referring to the latest draft of the proposed peace agreement, which was revised in Miami after talks led by Zelensky's new chief negotiator, Rustam Umerov, and Trump's close allies, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Around the same time as Trump's comments on Sunday, Zelensky said he was to be briefed by Umerov about the talks in London or Brussels, adding that "some issues can only be discussed in person rather than by phone."

Zelensky said the discussions with Witkoff and Kushner were "constructive, though not easy."

The talks in London on Monday will include Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, representing the three NATO countries with the largest military budgets, excluding the US.

Downing Street said the meeting would focus on "ongoing peace talks and next steps," while British Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden said it would explore ways to ensure Ukraine is "able to determine its own future."

He said that in the event of a peace agreement, there should be meaningful security guarantees, not a "toothless organization." The UK and France have led talks to create what is also known as the "Coalition of the Willing," or Multinational Force Ukraine, to provide future defense support. This includes a potential reassurance force to be deployed in the country.

Germany, Italy, and other European defense players, including Poland, have pledged defense assistance but have expressed skepticism about the possibility of sending ground troops inside Ukraine—a proposal the Kremlin has described as a move that could escalate tensions.

The White House is pressing Kyiv and Moscow to quickly agree on a multi-point plan to end the war.

But there have been few signs of any major breakthrough, with Witkoff's five-hour face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week yielding no significant results.

Negotiations remain particularly tense over the issue of territorial concessions, along with security guarantees.

The US has proposed that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from eastern regions that Russia has attempted to forcibly take but has not fully occupied, in exchange for Russia withdrawing its troops elsewhere and ceasing hostilities.

Speaking on Sunday, Trump's outgoing special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also described the negotiations surrounding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as particularly complex.

Fierce fighting has erupted several times around this facility, which is the largest in Europe and is currently under Russian control. A leaked initial draft of a US-backed peace plan proposed dividing future energy generated between Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg said at an event in California that an agreement was close but negotiations were ongoing on those elements, adding: "If we resolve these two issues, I think the rest will be resolved quite well."

The talks in London are the latest attempt by Ukraine's European allies to carve out a role in US-led efforts to end the war, which they fear will undermine the continent's long-term interests in favor of a quick resolution.

European leaders have opposed initial versions of the US-led peace plan, which has been revised after criticism of being too favorable to Russia.

Despite heavy economic pressure and losses on the battlefield, the Kremlin has shown little indication that it is willing to compromise on its core demands, which include rejecting any future path for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance. Last week, Putin also reiterated that his forces would continue fighting until they fully control the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which they currently control about 85% of.

It says the US should prioritize improving relations between Europe and Russia to "reduce the risk" of a major conflict, while also offering a critical view of the continent's policies on the economy, migration and freedom, which the White House says have brought Europe to the brink of "the end of civilization."