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Allies of Ukraine rallied around its defiant wartime leader on Saturday as they pushed to revise a suspect peace proposal touted by the United States.
European leaders met in South Africa to review their options after US president Donald Trump set Kyiv a deadline of next Thursday to agree to terms seen as appeasing some of Russia’s most hardline demands.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke with Trump late on Saturday after expressing how leaders were concerned that the current deal would not give Ukraine the means to defend itself, requiring a cap on the military and no Nato membership or peacekeepers.
The prime minister said earlier in the day that allies had agreed that the 28-point plan contains “elements” that are essential to a lasting peace, but added that the proposal still needs “additional work”.
Trump offered allies some hope of salvaging a viable peace deal, telling reporters on Saturday that the peace plan was not his final offer.
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Sir Keir Starmer called Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening to discuss the peace proposals (PA Wire)
A Ukrainian delegation, bolstered by representatives from France, Germany and the UK, is now preparing for direct talks with Washington in Geneva on Sunday to go through the plan in detail.
UK National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell is understood to have left the G20 summit early to head to Switzerland.
Sir Keir said he expected to be in a better position after Sunday’s meeting. He agreed that an armistice should be signed as soon as possible, but amplified Ukraine’s concerns that any peace must be “just and lasting”.
The prime minister insisted that he was in touch with Trump “fairly regularly”, though European leaders were apparently shut out of Washington’s plans that were quietly drawn up with the Kremlin.
French president Emmanuel Macron said that the peace plan contained ideas that were “familiar, whether they were shared or not”.
He praised the ambition to find peace, but said the current deal was merely a “basis for work that needs to be revisited”.
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A residential building in Ternopil, Ukraine damaged in a Russian strike as the war rages on (AP)
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to work with the US on “their vision” for peace, while also reiterating the need for security guarantees, scarcely mentioned in Trump’s text.
He assured the public via social media on Saturday that Ukraine’s representatives know how to “defend Ukraine’s national interests”.
Zelensky said later that he had spoken to Sir Keir about the diplomatic work around the peace process, and that the “vast majority” of European leaders were ready to help.
“Coordination will continue, and I am grateful to the British society for their support,” Zelensky wrote on X.
The US plan, as it stands, foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia – something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out – while reducing the size of its army and blocking its path to Nato membership. The proposal contains many of Moscow’s long-standing demands, while offering little in the way of security guarantees to Kyiv.
The deal remains contentious even within Trump’s party in the US. Republican senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi was one who openly voiced doubts over the controversial proposal.
“This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly sceptical it will achieve peace,” he said. “Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected the notion that such a deal would amount to major concessions for Ukraine. She said it was “a good plan for both”, formulated by secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff over a month.
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Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day on Saturday, commemorating the four million victims of an artificial famine imposed by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s (Reuters)
The plan to partition the country and welcome Russia back into the international community has been received poorly in Ukraine after nearly four years fending off invasion.
With discussions ongoing around the country’s future, Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day on Saturday, commemorating the victims of the Soviet genocide in the 1930s.
President Zelensky drew a comparison between the tragedy, in which four million people died in an artificial famine, and the ongoing conflict. He said that Russia “has not changed and once again brings death”, and called on Ukrainians to “stand united in our defence”.