British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a cabinet meeting that "the stakes remain high" but Britain continues to work with "all its partners" to secure peace in Ukraine, while Donald Trump criticized European leaders for their failure to end the war, PA media/DPA reported, BTA reported.
Starmer said this after holding emergency talks with European allies on the future of Ukraine yesterday after Trump described them as "weak" leaders of "collapsing" nations who fail to "create" anything while "the war just goes on". The US president also again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of not reading the latest draft of his peace plan, an unusual attack on Europe and Kiev that has raised concerns that he could abandon Ukraine to the mercy of Russian aggression.
From "Downing Street" 10 said that no one wants peace in Ukraine more than Zelensky and rejected Trump's criticism of Europe.
A spokesman for Starmer said: "I would reject that, given that you have seen the number of countries involved in the "Coalition of the Willing" to negotiate, you have also seen the work that the UK has done in terms of leading the sanctions response, including against the shadowy fleet, but we strongly support the US peace process".
The official also said: "We welcome the significant US efforts to bring peace to Ukraine. "No one wants that more than President Zelensky."
Ukraine and its European allies are likely to insist that any ceasefire must be accompanied by security guarantees.
In an interview with "Politico" published today, Trump pressed Zelensky to agree to a U.S. offer for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, saying that Moscow retains the "advantage" and that Kiev must "play by the rules."