Putin accused of ‘stalling’ over Ukraine peace talks as Trump meeting postponed

Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders from across Europe accused Russia of “stalling” over talks to end the war with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had been due to meet US President Donald Trump within weeks to talk about a plan to end the war.

But the summit, which had been due to take place in Budapest, is now on hold.

The European leaders’ statement follows reports that Mr Trump had tossed aside maps of the front line in Ukraine and suggested Mr Zelensky surrender the entire eastern Donbas region during tense White House exchanges last week.

The politicians – including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen – said: “We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.”

The leaders of Ukraine, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the European Commission and European Council, 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 European leaders said Mr Putin was not serious about the peace process.

“Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace,” they said.

“We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”

They said Ukraine should be put in the “strongest possible position” before, during and after any ceasefire.

The leaders confirmed they were developing measures to use the “full value” of Russia’s frozen sovereign assets to support Ukraine – currently only profits on the assets have been used.

The European Council will meet on Thursday ahead of a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” group convened by Sir Keir and Mr Macron on Friday.

Mr Trump has resisted calls to supply Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv and reports of the exchanges during last week’s meeting with Mr Zelensky suggest relations with Ukraine took another downturn in the wake of his latest conversation with Mr Putin.

The US leader had announced plans for a summit in Budapest with Mr Putin following a call with the Russian leader last week.

But the summit is now on hold after a call between secretary of state Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.