UK, France & Ukraine to work on truce, discuss it with US: Starmer

BRITAIN, FRANCE AND Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the US, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday before a summit with European leaders to discuss ending the war.

- BRIAN MELLEY

The meeting has been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding by US President Donald Trump of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday for being "ungrateful" for US support against the invasion by Russia.

But Starmer said he's focused on being a bridge to restore peace talks, whose collapse he used as an opportunity to re-engage with Trump, Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron rather than "ramp up the rhetoric." "We've now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we'll discuss that plan with the United States," Starmer told the BBC.

Starmer and Macron have both spoken to Trump since Friday.

The London meeting has taken on greater importance in defending the war-torn ally and shoring up the continent's defenses. Sunday's summit is likely to include talks on establishing a European military force to be sent to Ukraine to underpin a ceasefire. Starmer said it would involve "a coalition of the willing."