London | British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to London on Thursday, a day before a critical US-Russia summit in Alaska.
The two embraced warmly outside Starmer's offices at 10 Downing Street, without making any comments. Zelenskyy's trip to the British capital comes a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with US President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries.
Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Starmer said further sanctions could be imposed on Russia should Putin fail to engage.
“It is important to remind colleagues that we do stand ready also to increase pressure on Russia, particularly the economy, with sanctions and wider measures as may be necessary,” Starmer said.
Both Zelenskyy and the Europeans have worried the bilateral US-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favour Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe's future security in jeopardy with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year.
Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday's video conference with Trump as constructive.
Speaking after the meetings to reporters, Trump warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after Friday's meeting.
Territorial integrity
Starmer on Wednesday said the Alaska summit would be “hugely important,” and could be a “viable” path to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
But he also alluded to European concerns that Trump may strike a deal that forces Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, and warned that Western allies must be prepared to step up pressure on Russia if necessary.
During a call Wednesday among leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — Starmer stressed that any deal reached on bringing the fighting to an end must protect the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
“International borders cannot be, and must not be changed by force," he said. “Any talk about borders, diplomacy, ceasefire has to sit alongside a robust and credible security guarantee to ensure that any peace, if there is peace, is lasting peace and Ukraine can defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.”
Macron: Trump willing to share in security guarantees
Kyiv has long insisted that safeguards against future Russian attacks provided by its Western allies would be a precondition for achieving a durable end to the fighting in Ukraine. Yet many Western governments have been hesitant to commit to engaging their military personnel.
Countries in the “coalition of the willing,” which include France and the UK, have been trying for months to secure US security backing should it be required.
Following Wednesday's virtual meetings, Macron said Trump told the assembled leaders that while the NATO military alliance must not be part of future security guarantees, the US leader agreed that “the United States and all the parties involved should take part”.
“It's a very important clarification that we have received,” Macron said.
European Council President Antonio Costa also welcomed “the readiness of the United States to share with Europe the efforts to reinforce security conditions once we obtain a durable and just peace for Ukraine.” Trump did not reference any US commitments to providing security guarantees during his comments to reporters on Wednesday.
Some Ukrainians sceptical
With another high-level meeting on their country's future on the horizon, some Ukrainians expressed skepticism that any breakthroughs would be achieved during Friday's US-Russia summit.
Oleksandra Kozlova, 39, who works at a digital agency in Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she believes Ukrainians “have already lost hope” that meaningful progress can be made on ending the 3 1/2-year-old war.
“I don't think this round will be decisive,” she said. "There have already been enough meetings and negotiations promising us, ordinary people, that something will be resolved, that things will get better, that the war will end. Unfortunately, this has not happened, so personally I don't see any changes coming.” Anton Vyshniak, a car salesman in Kyiv, said Ukraine's priority now should be saving the lives of its military service people, even at the expense of making territorial concessions.
“At the moment, the most important thing is to preserve the lives of male and female military personnel. After all, there are not many human resources left," he said. "Borders are borders, but human lives are priceless. Therefore, some principles can be disregarded here.”
Russia and Ukraine trade strikes
Russian strikes in Ukraine's Sumy region overnight Wednesday resulted in numerous injuries, Ukrainian regional officials said.
A missile strike on a village in the Seredyna-Budska community injured a 7-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov. The girl was hospitalised in stable condition.
In the southern Kherson region, Russian artillery fire struck the village of Molodizhne on Thursday morning, injuring a 16-year-old boy, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The teenager suffered an explosive injury, shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs and an acute stress reaction. He was hospitalised in moderate condition, Prokudin said.
In Russia, an oil refinery in the Volgograd region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, according to local governor Andrei Bocharov. The refinery, one of the biggest producers of petroleum products in southern Russia, has been a frequent target of drone attacks, according to Russian independent news site Meduza.
Overall, Russia's Defense Ministry reported destroying 44 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the annexed Crimea overnight.
