Tea and solidarity: Zelenskyy meets Starmer at Downing Street for crunch talks ahead of Trump-Putin Ukraine summit

The Prime Minister's meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky comes after he said Britain stands ready to "increase pressure" on Russia if necessary.

The two leaders warmly embraced outside the famous black door leading to the Prime Minister's residence, emphasising the close relationship between Britain and Ukraine.

But neither Starmer nor Zelenskyy are invited to tomorrow's more significant meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first between the two presidents since 2019.

As the Ukrainian president was walking up to greet Sir Keir, a reporter asked whether Donald Trump could deliver a fair ceasefire. The pair did not respond to the question, instead choosing to go inside after a hug and a handshake.

Meanwhile, Trump threatened Russia with "very severe consequences" if a ceasefire was rejected by its leader following the upcoming summit.

But the US president, who has made threats of harsher sanctions on Russia in the past without following through, did not elaborate on what these consequences might be.

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During a call with the US president and European allies on Wednesday, Sir Keir praised Mr Trump for his work to bring forward a "viable" chance of an end to the war.

But concerns have been raised over Zelenskyy's exclusion from the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, which is set to take place in Alaska on Friday.

Speaking on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: "This meeting on Friday that President Trump is attending is hugely important.

"As I've said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven't got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.

"And now we do have that chance, because of the work of that the president has put in."

Starmer said the UK could impose further sanctions on Russia if the Kremlin fails to engage, and that Britain is already working on its next package of measures targeting Moscow.

"We're ready to support this, including from the plans we've already drawn up to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased," he told allies.

Sir Keir and European leaders have repeatedly said discussions about Ukraine should not happen without it, amid concerns the country is being sidelined in negotiations about its own future.

But it seems Putin isn't keen to talk with Zelenskyy directly just yet.

When asked if it was his decision to not invite Zelenskyy to the meeting, Trump said "no just the opposite", before adding that a second meeting with the Ukrainian president could take place afterwards.

"We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly," he told reporters in Washington.

He added: "There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I'm going to find out where we are and what we're doing."

The US president has previously suggested a truce could involve some "swapping" of land between the warring neighbours.

It is believed one of the Russian leader's demands is for Ukraine to cede parts of the Donbas region which it still controls.

But Zelenskyy has already rejected any proposal that would compromise Ukraine's territorial integrity, something that is forbidden by the country's constitution.

A joint statement from the Coalition of the Willing, which is co-chaired by Sir Keir, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said "international borders must not be changed by force".

It added: "Sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy should be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire in Alaska."

The Coalition of the Willing is a European-led effort to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine in the event of truce.