Britain and France are planning to work together on a peace plan for Ukraine, as European leaders scramble to respond to Friday’s World House meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on Sunday that he and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to begin negotiations separate to those between the U.S. and Russia. They will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting and then discuss it with the United States. Starmer said the U.K. and France are the most advanced in their thinking on this, and that he and Macron will work on the plan together.
Starmer spent Saturday engaged in diplomacy after Zelenskyy’s meeting in Washington, during which the Ukrainian president was berated live on camera by Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance. The prime minister met with Zelenskyy in Downing Street and made calls to Macron and Trump to show solidarity for Ukraine. Zelenskyy will meet King Charles on Sunday, while Starmer will host European leaders, as well as those from Canada and Turkey, for a defense summit in central London. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will also sign a $2.3 billion loan deal to help Kyiv buy more weapons.
Unlike other European leaders, Starmer has not yet criticized Trump for his actions on Friday. He defended his stance on Sunday and said that he felt uncomfortable seeing the exchange but believed that it was important to bridge the divide between the U.S. and Ukraine. He added that they have to move to a quicker and more agile way forward, through a “coalition of the willing states.”
Starmer said that the Franco-British peace plan could include “one or two others” and would involve discussions over where the border would be drawn between Ukraine and Russia. He admitted that any plan would still rely on American military cooperation, something that Trump has not yet agreed to provide. Starmer said that they discussed this at length on Thursday because any deal would need to be enforceable.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/02/uk-and-france-will-work-on-own-ukraine-peace-plan-says-keir-starmer
