Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUK and France are working on a Ukraine peace deal to present to Trump, seeking US support to prevent further Russian aggression.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain and France will work on a peace deal with Ukraine and present it to Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, describing it as a step in the right direction following Friday's explosive meeting in the White House.
Starmer, due to host Western leaders in London in a bid to revive a peace deal, said he hoped a European "coalition of the willing" would come together to support Kyiv, but that any ceasefire had to be underpinned by the United States to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine again.
"In other words, we've got to find those countries in Europe that are prepared to be a bit more forward leaning," he told BBC television.
"The UK and France are the most advanced on the thinking of this and that is why President Macron and I are working on this plan, which we will then discuss with the U.S."
Starmer spoke to Macron and Trump on Saturday after he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Downing Street, a day after Trump and Zelenskiy clashed in an extraordinary meeting at the White House.
Starmer repeated his assertion that a peace deal would only work in Ukraine if a possible European peacekeeping force had a security guarantee from the United States.
"I've always been clear that that is going to need a U.S. backstop, because I don't think it would be a guarantee without it," he said.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Kate Holton, writing by Elizabeth Piper)
The UK and France are working on a peace deal with Ukraine, which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to present to Donald Trump.
Starmer believes that a peace deal will only be effective if a potential European peacekeeping force receives a security guarantee from the United States.
Starmer spoke to French President Macron and former President Trump after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Downing Street.
Starmer hopes to form a European 'coalition of the willing' to support Ukraine in the peace initiative.
Starmer emphasized that the peacekeeping efforts would require a U.S. backstop to ensure their effectiveness.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
