Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has had more than his fair share of ‘very big weeks’ since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
But this week may prove to be among the most important.
Tomorrow, Donald Trump will meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska for what’s being described by the White House as a ‘listening exercise’ with the aim of laying groundwork for peace in Ukraine.
Leaders from across Europe were able to press the US President with their arguments for what terms would and would not be acceptable in a virtual call yesterday afternoon.
And this morning, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will welcome Zelensky to Downing Street for private talks.
They will likely focus on strategies for responding to whatever emerges from the high-stakes Alaska summit – whether it’s a solid ceasefire proposal, or something less substantial.
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No press conference is planned from the pair, so we may end up having to rely on a short description of the meeting from No 10 to learn what was discussed.
Both leaders are likely to be in a good mood after the Teams chat yesterday was described in glowing terms by both Europe and the US.
Immediately afterwards, Trump rated the meeting as ‘a ten’ and came out with strong words for Putin, saying the consequences would be ‘very severe’ if no ceasefire is agreed.
During the call, Starmer had praised the US President for his work in creating a ‘chance’ for a ‘viable way of bringing [the conflict] to a ceasefire’.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron described it as an ‘excellent meeting’, and said there was ‘strong alignment’ on priorities like ensuring no decisions about Ukraine should be taken without the Ukrainians.
Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, said the Europeans ‘are doing everything to set the course for this [Alaska] meeting in the right direction’.
When announcing his intention to meet with Putin last week, Trump also mooted a potential subsequent trilateral meeting where Zelensky would join them.
In his press conference following the call yesterday, Trump once again raised this possibility, saying: ‘We’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they’d like to have me there.’
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