The state of Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine remained deeply unsettled Sunday, with the U.S. saying it does not know whether peace is possible while European leaders met in London to voice their ongoing support for Kyiv’s forces.
The new developments came two days after Friday’s explosive Washington meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that devolved into an intense confrontation as the U.S. leader ordered his counterpart to leave the White House and a prospective U.S.-Ukraine rare earth minerals deal was left unsigned.
“We need a very radical reset,” Lord Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the United States, told ABC’s “This Week” show. No peace negotiations are scheduled.
Mandelson’s assessment came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened a group of more than a dozen European leaders, alongside Zelenskyy, to pledge their continuing arms support for Ukraine’s fighters even as the U.S. wavers.
Starmer, as he sat next to Zelenskyy and in front of the flags of Ukraine and European nations, said it was “a once-in-a-generation moment for the security of Europe and we all need to step up.”
“I hope you know that we are all with you and the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes, everyone around this table,” Starmer told the Ukraine leader. “We need to agree what steps come out of this meeting to deliver peace through strength for the benefit of all.”
But Trump told Zelenskyy on Friday he was only welcome to return to the White House “when he is ready for Peace.”
Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, speaking about Zelenskyy, told CNN’s “State of the Union” show, “What was not clear to us was whether he shared our goal of ending this war. It was not clear he was ready to go to peace.”
Waltz said that eventually Russia and Ukraine will have to make negotiating concessions to reach a peace deal. “There will be all kinds of carrots and sticks to get this done,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also stressed the importance of both sides coming to the negotiating table.
“We are trying to end a war,” Rubio said. “You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians. And that is the point the president has made. And we have to do whatever we can to try to bring them to the table to see if it's even possible.”
“I'm not promising you it's possible,” he added. “I'm not telling you it's 90% likely. I'm saying it's 0% likely if we don't get them to a negotiating table. And the sooner everyone grows up around here and figures out that this is a bad war that's heading in a bad direction with death and destruction and all kinds of danger surrounding it that could spiral into a broader conflict, the sooner people grow up and realize that I think the more progress we're going to be able to make.”
Starmer said Britain, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the United States. Some European countries have said they are willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to help enforce a would-be peace agreement but need the U.S. to provide backup military support to confront Russia in the event President Vladimir Putin agrees to a ceasefire and then violates it or launches a new invasion.
Trump has rejected sending such U.S. support and said he trusts Putin to honor any settlement of the war that he agrees to.
Starmer’s summit has been overshadowed by the extraordinary Friday’s Oval office meeting that turned into a heated exchange, as Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance unleashed on Zelenskyy, accusing him of being ungrateful for the U.S. war support. Zelenskyy has on numerous occasions thanked the United States, its chief wartime benefactor. He did so again on social media after the Friday meeting.
In advance of the discussions with his European counterparts, Starmer said he is focused on trying to re-engage with Trump, Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron, rather than “ramp up the rhetoric.”
“We’ve now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States,” Starmer told the BBC. Starmer and Macron have both spoken to Trump since Friday.
Starmer said he does not trust Putin but does trust Trump.
“Do I believe Donald Trump when he says he wants lasting peace? The answer to that is yes,” he said.
Starmer said there are “intense discussions” to get a security guarantee from the U.S. as one of several components for a lasting peace.
“If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause and then Putin comes again,” Starmer said. “That has happened in the past, I think it is a real risk, and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it is a lasting deal, not a temporary pause.”
The London summit also includes leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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