PM to speak with allies, amid reports Trump mulling Russian land grab in Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer will meet European allies on Sunday, amid reports Donald Trump favours a Russian land grab in Ukraine to end the war.

The Prime Minister, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host the coalition of the willing on Sunday afternoon.

The video conference of allies who plan to keep the peace in Ukraine comes ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House meeting with Donald Trump on Monday.

The one-on-one in the Oval Office could pave the way for a three-way meeting alongside Russian leader Mr Putin, the US President has said.

The Russian and American leaders met on Friday at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, for a summit to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.

Several news outlets have cited sources which claimed that during the negotiations Mr Putin demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk – two occupied Ukrainian regions – as a condition for ending the war.

In exchange, he would give up other Ukrainian territories held by Russian troops.

Other outlets reported that Mr Trump is inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Mr Zelensky about it on Monday when they meet in the Oval Office.

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.

The Prime Minister and European leaders appeared increasingly confident that Mr Trump will offer a “security guarantee” of air support to back up allied troops on the ground in Ukraine, should they be deployed to keep the peace.

But Mr Trump also appeared to have a change of heart on what he wants to achieve from the talks, indicating that he wants a permanent peace settlement rather than a ceasefire, echoing the sentiment of Mr Putin.

The Alaska summit was “timely” and “useful”, Mr Putin said after he left.

Experts have warned the face-to-face summit has risked legitimising the Russian leader, who has been made a pariah by the international community for invading Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Mr Zelensky warned Russia may ramp up its strikes against his country in the coming days “in order to create more favourable political circumstances for talks with global actors”.