UK, France and Ukraine agree to work on ceasefire plan for Russia’s war in Ukraine
The Hindu
UK, France, and other countries collaborate on Ukraine-Russia peace deal, bridging gap between Zelenskyy and Trump.
The UK will work with France and “possibly one or two other countries” on a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia and present that to U.S. President Donald Trump. This sequence of events was outlined by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday (March 2, 2025), following unprecedented scenes from the Oval Office on Friday (February 28, 2025), where an argument erupted between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
“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,” Mr Starmer said during a BBC interview on Sunday.
Mr. Starmer had spoken with Mr. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Mr. Zelenskyy and they had agreed to the new sequence of play towards a deal, he said.
After the acrimonious interaction in Washington, Mr Zelenskyy was received warmly in London on Saturday, welcomed by Mr Starmer with a hug outside No.10 Downing Street. The two men held bilateral talks ahead of Sunday’s summit meeting between European leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO chief Mark Rutte. Mr Zelenskyy is also scheduled to meet King Charles on Sunday.
Following Friday’s spat, Mr. Starmer said he was working as a “bridge” between Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump.
“Yes I felt uncomfortable, nobody wants to see that,” he told the BBC, reacting to the happenings at the Oval Office.
“We have to bridge this…we ‘ve had three years of bloody conflict now [ in Ukraine ], we have to get to that lasting peace,” he said.
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