Starmer to join Trump-Zelensky summit after Putin talks fail to reach Ukraine-Russia ceasefire: Live updates

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in Brussels on Sunday, said the current front lines in his country’s war against Russia should be the basis for peace talks.

“We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now,” Zelenskiy said, adding that European leaders supported this.

Zelenskiy reiterated his position that it was necessary to establish a ceasefire in order to then negotiate a final deal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Sunday the term “ceasefire” was less important than the need to stop the killing.

“It matters what’s the effect. And the effect must be to stop the killing,” von der Leyen said.

“So it’s not the term itself, it’s the content that matters. It is so important to have as soon as possible a trilateral meeting … between the President of Ukraine, the President of the United States, and of Russia.”

It is now conceivable, just, that Trump is prepared to consider security guarantees for Ukraine that reflect Nato’s Article 5, which could mean that if Ukraine signed up to a peace deal then its long-term future sovereignty and security would be protected, by force of arms, by allies including the US.

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Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday it had prevented a Ukrainian drone attack on the Smolensk nuclear power plant, Interfax news agency reported.

Earlier, Moscow’s forces announced they shot down 300 Ukrainian drones and struck storage sites for Sapsan missiles while fierce battles raged in the Donetsk region where Ukrainian forces were trying to halt a Russian advance, the defence ministry and war bloggers said.

“Four guided aerial bombs and 300 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by air defense systems,” the ministry said.

Eight pages — containing a schedule, several phone numbers of government employees, and a luncheon menu — were found in a public hotel printer at Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, a 20-minute drive from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson where the two world leaders met Friday to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine.

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Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson will virtually attend Sunday’s meeting with the “Coalition of the Willing”, ahead of President Volodymyr Zelenskiys visit to Washington on Monday, a spokesperson from the prime minister’s office told Reuters.

Kristersson will however not fly to Washington together with Zelensky alongside other European leaders on Monday, the spokesperson said.

Despite launching an illegal invasion, Vladimir Putin is understood to have demanded that Kyiv surrender the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk provinces as a condition for ending the war.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the press service of the Belarusian president said via its Telegram channel on Sunday.

“Two Presidents discussed the situation in the region in the light of the talks in Alaska. Putin informed his Belarusian counterpart in detail about the results of the last Russia-US summit,” the press service said.

Sir Keir Starmer will join President Zelensky and European leaders for a meeting with President Trump at the White House on Monday, Downing Street has said.

Mr Zelensky’s Oval Office rendezvous with the US president will take place after Western allies meet for a coalition of the willing video call on Sunday afternoon.

Downing Street would not comment on whether Sir Keir plans to travel to Washington to join other European leaders on Monday.

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