Starmer and Macron to Join Zelensky in Washington as Ukraine Pushes for Peace Plan
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are prepared to travel to the United States alongside Volodymyr Zelensky to present a potential peace plan.
According to Daily Mail sources, Starmer and Macron could visit Washington as soon as next week with Zelensky to demonstrate a united front on the peace initiative before US President Donald Trump.
Diplomatic sources confirm that a potential ceasefire could begin with a halt to aerial and naval bombardments from both sides. One source emphasized that the greatest destruction is currently being caused by Russian drones and missile strikes.
If successful, both sides would then move toward a ground ceasefire, which, according to sources, would be “harder to monitor and easier to break.”
President Macron had initially proposed a one-month pause in air and sea combat, but the plan is now expected to be open-ended, the publication reported.
Starmer hopes to convince Trump to provide US security assurances that would allow the UK, France, and other nations in a “coalition of the willing” to deploy peacekeeping forces in Ukraine without the risk of an immediate Russian attack.
This week, Starmer acknowledged that sending British troops to Ukraine without US support would be “utter folly.”
However, Trump currently believes that the presence of American personnel working on a mineral extraction deal would be sufficient to deter further Russian attacks.
Last week, he assured Starmer that he trusts Putin to keep his word.
These statements come days after a tense and public confrontation between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office on Friday, after which the US President cut the meeting short, stating that the Ukrainian leader is “not ready” for peace with Russia.
Zelensky was originally scheduled for a formal White House visit on Feb. 28 to finalize a US-Ukrainian agreement on jointly utilizing Ukraine’s mineral resources, a key component of a Trump-mediated post-war recovery plan.
However, the visit quickly turned confrontational in the Oval Office, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance angrily confronted Zelensky, accusing him of lacking gratitude for US support since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
Source: Kyiv Post