Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to hold high level talks in London on Monday with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany as pressure mounts on Ukraine from the Trump administration to make territorial concessions in pursuit of a rapid end to the war.
The Ukrainian president will meet Keir Starmer at Downing Street alongside Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz. The talks come after several days of discussions between US and Ukrainian officials which wrapped up over the weekend without a clear breakthrough. Zelenskyy later described those talks as constructive but far from easy.
A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the negotiations said the question of territory remains the biggest stumbling block. According to the source, Vladimir Putin is unwilling to sign any agreement that does not include Ukraine giving up land. The official also said the pace of negotiations is being pushed hard by Washington, with Ukraine under pressure to move quickly even though many details remain unresolved.
Concerns are growing across Europe that the peace framework being promoted by the Trump administration leans too heavily in Russia’s favour despite Moscow’s full scale invasion. Trump fuelled controversy on Sunday by claiming that Zelenskyy had not yet read the US proposal and asserting without evidence that Ukrainians supported it. He also suggested that while Russia would ideally want full control of Ukraine, it would supposedly be satisfied with the current proposal.
These claims appear to clash with public opinion inside Ukraine. Recent polling suggests that most Ukrainians remain firmly opposed to giving up territory as part of any peace settlement.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said Zelenskyy will receive a full briefing on the talks with Washington and will be handed all documentation linked to the proposed peace plan during the London meetings.
Following the Gaza ceasefire brokered with US backing, Washington has stepped up efforts to push a similar deal between Kyiv and Moscow. American officials insist negotiations are entering their final phase, yet there is little public sign that either side is ready to sign the agreement currently on the table.
Meanwhile the UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to be in Washington on Monday for talks with her US counterpart Marco Rubio. The Foreign Office said both sides would reaffirm their shared commitment to securing a peace deal in Ukraine.
The diplomatic push also follows the release of a new US national security strategy that has unsettled European leaders but drawn praise from Moscow. The Kremlin said the document closely reflects Russia’s own foreign policy vision. The strategy published by the White House says improving relations with Russia and ending the war in Ukraine are core American strategic goals.