Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky are united in their “strong resolve” to secure a just peace in Ukraine ahead of a historic summit between the US and Russia on Friday.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are due to meet in Alaska, amid fears the two superpowers will try to decide the end of the war themselves, leaving Ukraine excluded.
As the world nervously awaits their meeting, the Russian president has dangled the idea that the talks could lead to Moscow and Washington reaching a deal on nuclear arms control.
After a one-to-one meeting in No 10 on Thursday, seen as a show of support for Ukraine, Downing Street said the two leaders “agreed there had been a powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
“They then looked ahead to tomorrow’s talks between President Trump and President Putin in Alaska, which present a viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace.”
As they entered Downing Street, the two men refused to be drawn on whether President Trump could be trusted, after questions from reporters.
It comes after the US president threatened “severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine, without specifying what these could be.
After his meeting with Sir Keir on Friday, President Zelensky suggested he and the PM had war-gamed potential outcomes of the Trump-Putin summit.
In a message on X, formerly Twitter, he described a “good, productive” meeting, a day after a call with other European leaders and Sir Keir to put forward Europe’s concerns on what a deal might include.
“We continue to coordinate our positions,” he said. “We discussed expectations for the meeting in Alaska and possible prospects. We also discussed in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy.”
Since the weekend, Europe has rallied behind Ukraine’s right to decide its own future, amid concerns over Mr Zelensky’s exclusion from Friday’s summit.
At the weekend, the US president suggested a truce could involve some “swapping” of land.
On Saturday, Mr Zelensky furiously rejected any proposal that would compromise Ukraine’s territorial integrity, something that is forbidden by the country’s constitution.
Putin is expected to use the summit to demand that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region, which it still controls.
Asked if he decided not to invite Mr Zelensky to the meeting, Mr Trump said “no, just the opposite”, before adding that a second meeting with the Ukrainian president could take place afterwards.
Mr Trump has threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if a ceasefire is rejected by its leader.
