Sawt Falasteen - European allies back Zelensky after Trump criticism

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at his Downing Street residence in London.

The discussions came after President Donald Trump accused Zelensky of not reading his administration's proposal on a deal to end Russia's invasion following almost four years of war.

That came after days of talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami ended on Saturday with no apparent breakthrough, with Zelensky committing to further negotiations.

"I'm sceptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the US side, but we have to talk about it. That's why we are here," Merz said at the top of Monday's meeting, without specifying which version of the proposal he was referring to.

Macron said the "main issue" is finding a "convergence" between the European and Ukrainian position and that of the United States.

Starmer hugged Zelensky as he welcomed the Ukrainian leader to Downing Street shortly after 1:00 pm, with the talks lasting a little over an hour.

The UK premier had earlier said he would not be pushing Zelensky to accept the deal spearheaded by Trump's administration, the initial version of which was criticised by Ukraine's allies as overly favourable to Russia.

"I won't be putting pressure on the president," Starmer told ITV News.

"The most important thing is to ensure that if there is a cessation of hostilities, and I hope there is, it has to be just and it has to be lasting, which is what we will be focused on this afternoon," the UK prime minister added.

But Zelensky said as he headed into the meeting that "there are some things which we can't manage without Americans, things which we can't manage without Europe, and that's why we need to make some important decisions."

An official familiar with the negotiations told AFP on Monday that territory was still "the most problematic issue" in the negotiations.

The tricky subject of how Europe can potentially best use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine was also to be discussed.

A UK official told reporters that Starmer would "update President Zelensky on our wider support today, including through the use of the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets, which we hope to see movement on soon".

A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv's fight against Russia would have "far-reaching consequences" for the EU, Moscow's ambassador to Germany warned last week.

- 'Disappointed' -

Earlier, Zelensky said he had joined his negotiators for a "very substantive and constructive" call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during the Miami negotiations.

"Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace," Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the parties agreed "on the next steps and the format of the talks with America".

But Trump criticised his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday, telling reporters: "I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago."

Witkoff and Kushner had met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last week, with Moscow rejecting parts of the US proposal.

Before Monday's talks, Macron slammed what he called Russia's "escalatory path".

"We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible," he wrote on X.

"We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace."

- Hot and cold -

Washington's initial plan to bring an end to the conflict involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.

But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get to fend off any future Russian invasion has so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.

Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.

But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results, and he recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.

S.Abdullah--SF-PST