Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold critical talks with European leaders in London on Monday as Ukraine’s allies coordinate their response to a U.S.-drived peace plan that is pushing Kyiv toward significant concessions.
Zelensky will be joined at Downing Street by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The meeting is aimed at aligning European strategy and ensuring any potential peace deal includes strong deterrents against future Russian aggression.
The summit follows three days of negotiations in Florida between Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and key U.S. officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump. The talks focused on revising a draft peace agreement widely seen as accommodating core Kremlin demands.
While both U.S. and Ukrainian officials described the Florida discussions as “constructive,” President Trump publicly expressed frustration on Sunday, stating he was “a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal.”
“His people love it… Russia is, I believe, fine with it—but I’m not sure that Zelensky is fine with it,” Trump told reporters.
Zelensky responded around the same time, saying he was due to be briefed in person by Umerov in either London or Brussels, noting that “some issues can only be discussed in person.” He characterized the talks with U.S. negotiators as “constructive, though not easy.”
The high-stakes diplomacy underscores deepening tensions between Ukraine’s insistence on security guarantees and a U.S. push for a settlement—a dynamic that will define this week’s diplomatic scramble in Europe.
By James Kisoo
