Zelenskyy and European leaders insist Ukraine is 'the only party serious about peace'
Trump reportedly insisted Ukraine surrender the entire eastern Donbas region to Vladimir Putin
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have joined leaders from across Europe in insisting Ukraine is "the only party serious about peace".
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In a joint statement, the leaders, including France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, said the current front line in Ukraine "should be the starting point of negotiations" for a peace deal.
They said: "We are all united in our desire for a just and lasting peace, deserved by the people of Ukraine.
"We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.
"We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force."
The statement follows reports that US President Donald Trump had tossed aside maps of the front line in Ukraine and insisted Mr Zelenskyy surrender the entire eastern Donbas region to Vladimir Putin during tense White House exchanges last week.
Read more: 'I never said Ukraine would win war,' Trump claims days after spat with Zelenskyy
The joint statement continued: "Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace. We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.
"Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position - before, during, and after any ceasefire.
"We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace. We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs."
Leaders are set to meet later this week in the European Council and in the Coalition of the Willing format to discuss how to take their work forward and to further support Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky expressed scepticism about Mr Putin's proposal to swap some territory it holds in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine surrenders Donetsk and Luhansk, saying the proposal was unclear.
Ukraine's leader said Mr Trump ultimately supported a freeze along the current front line.
"We share President Trump's positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war," Mr Zelenskyy said, citing "many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team".
Mr Zelenskyy was diplomatic about his meeting with Mr Trump despite reports that he faced pressure to accept Mr Putin's demands.
The meeting followed the disastrous Oval Office spat on February 28 when the Ukrainian president was scolded on live television for not being grateful for continued US support.
Mr Zelenskyy said he hopes that Mr Trump's meeting in the coming weeks with Mr Putin in Hungary - which does not support Ukraine - will pave the way for a peace deal.
Their first summit of Mr Trump's current term was in Alaska in August.