Starmer to join Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington for Trump White House meeting

Recent hours have seen a growing list of European figures throw their support behind the Ukrainian President, announcing their attendance at Monday's White House summit.

Number 10 has now confirmed that Sir Keir Starmer will be in attendance, shortly after co-chairing the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' on Sunday afternoon.

Donald Trump's administration extended invitations to a host of leaders ahead of the meeting, with Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emanuel Macron also accepting invites.

The announcement came shortly before Ms von der Leyen met with the Ukrainian leader in Brussels, as the pair prepared to fly to the US ahead of the meeting.

Co-chairing the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing with President Macron, Sir Keir said that European partners continued to be unified in their support for Ukraine.

Ending his remarks, the Prime Minister said the Coalition of the Willing’s military planning was at an advanced stage.

He then pressed the importance of squeezing Putin’s regime further with financial sanctions, which was already inflicting maximum pressure on the Russian state.

The leaders will be hoping for a more favourable outcome than was seen following Trump and Zelenskyy's last White House showdown, with Europe's show of support intended to send a strong signal to the US President.

It comes as Donald Trump looks set to back Vladimir Putin's demands that any ceasefire agreement would require Ukraine to surrender the mineral-rich Donbas region to Russia.

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In a statement released by Number 10 on Sunday, the Prime Minister announced that he "would join President Zelenskyy, and European leaders, for a meeting with President Trump at the White House tomorrow.

"This follows the Prime Minister commending President Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, reasserting his position that the path to peace cannot be decided without President Zelenskyy, and co-chairing a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing this afternoon (Sunday 17 August) to discuss the progress to provide Ukraine with robust security guarantees in the event of any deal.

"At the meeting that will take place at the White House tomorrow, the Prime Minister, with other European partners, stands ready to support this next phase of further talks and will reaffirm that his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes."

Moments after the announcement, Ms Von der Leyen reiterated calls for Ukraine to have the final say on decisions linked to possible territorial concessions.

She insisted that any ceasefire deal brokered with Putin must allow Ukraine to "uphold territorial integrity," Ursula Von der Leyen insisted ahead of Monday's Washington summit with Donald Trump.

Friday night saw Trump meet with Putin in Alaska, with the US President rolling out the red carpet for the Russian leader.

It was a move denounced by many, given the outstanding international arrest warrants issued for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

It comes as several outlets claim that during Friday night's negotiations with Trump, Mr Putin demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk - two occupied Ukrainian regions - as a condition for ending the war.

In return for the mineral-rich territories, the Kremlin said the front line would be frozen and no further territory would be taken.

A source close to the matter told AFP Putin "de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas" and "Trump is included to support it".

A Republican source close to Mr Trump told The Telegraph: "The president wants to stop the killing and end the war.

"That's the bottom line.

"Negotiations over territory are part of that process. The ball is in Zelensky's court."

The US President reportedly heard these demands during their meeting in Alaska on Friday.

Mr Trump will speak to Mr Zelensky about it on Monday when they meet in the Oval Office, reports claim.

Mr Trump hoped to secure a peace deal from the talks at a military base in Anchorage, but both he and Mr Putin walked away without agreement on how to end the war in Ukraine.

The US leader, however, insisted "some great progress" was made, with "many points" agreed and "very few" remaining.

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After the Alaska summit, the US president told Fox News it was now up to Mr Zelensky to "make a deal" to end the war.

Sir Keir commended Mr Trump's "pursuit of an end to the killing" following a phone call with the US president, Mr Zelensky and Nato allies on Saturday morning.

But he insisted Ukraine's leader must not be excluded from future talks to broker a peace in Ukraine.

It comes as Mr Trump confirmed that Zelenskyy would meet him at the White House on Monday, in what many hope will not be a re-run of the pair's last Oval Office visit.

Following the summit in Alaska, Mr Zelenskyy said that he and the US president had spoken over the phone following the summit - discussions that lasted more than an hour-and-a-half.

The meeting comes hours after Mr Trump and Mr Putin met in Alaska to discuss a possible ceasefire deal in Ukraine, with the US President branding the made-for-tv discussions "very productive".

Days of anticipation leading up to the summit, which saw Trump fail to secure his desired ceasefire deal, ultimately produced an anti-climactic end to proceedings, with both parties walking away empty handed.

For many, word of Mr Zelenskyy's forthcoming meeting with Mr Trump on US soil will conjure images of the pair's last White House showdown, described by many at the time as an "ambush".