Zelenskyy heads to London for talks with European allies on peace plan and security
LONDON AP President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was meeting the French German and British leaders in London on Monday as Kyiv s European allies try to strengthen Ukraine s hand in thorny talks on a U S -backed plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to gather with Zelenskyy President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader s Downing St residence Zelenskyy announced late Sunday that his talks with European leaders this week in London and Brussels will focus on prevention air defense and long-term funding for Ukraine s war effort The leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid defense guarantees both from Europe and the U S to deter Russia from attacking again U S and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U S administration s peace proposal Zelenskyy noted in a post on Telegram that talks had been substantive and that National Measure and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were traveling back to Europe to brief him A major sticking point in the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine must cede control of its eastern Donbas region to Russia which illegally occupies majority but not all of the territory Ukraine and its European allies have balked at the idea of handing over land Starmer revealed he won t be putting pressure on Zelenskyy to accept a peace settlement The most of fundamental 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 he informed broadcaster ITV In an exchange with reporters on Sunday night U S President Donald Trump appeared frustrated with Zelenskyy claiming the Ukrainian leader hasn t yet read the proposal Russia is I believe fine with it but I m not sure that Zelenskyy s fine with it Trump commented before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington His people love it but he hasn t read it Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U S taxpayers money Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to the nearly four-year conflict The European talks follow the publication of a new U S national safety strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the document which spells out the administration s core foreign guidelines interests was largely in line with Moscow s vision Speaking with journalists on Monday Peskov stated that the Kremlin welcomed the document s focus on progressing constructive relations with Russia The nuances that we see in the new concept certainly look appealing to us he narrated reporters It mentions the need for dialogue and building constructive friendly relations This cannot but appeal to us and it absolutely corresponds to our vision We understand that by eliminating the irritants that at present exist in bilateral relations a prospect may open for us to truly restore our relations and bring them out of the rather deep predicament The document published Friday by the White House announced the U S wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U S interest to reestablish strategic stability with Russia The document also says NATO must not be a perpetually expanding alliance echoing another complaint of Russia s It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding U S allies in Europe suggesting they face the prospect of civilizational erasure due to migration Starmer s executive has declined to comment on the American document saying it is a matter for the U S leadership Aerial attacks continue Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine Monday as diplomatic efforts continued Russian drones struck a residential high-rise in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Okhtyrka overnight injuring seven people the head of the regional administration Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram He commented that the building suffered extensive damage Elsewhere in the northern city of Chernihiv a Russian drone injured three people when it exploded outside a residential building regional head Viacheslav Chaus mentioned The attack also damaged a kindergarten domestic gas pipes and cars Ukraine s Air Force revealed Monday that Russia fired a total of drones across the country overnight of which were neutralized and more struck their targets Meanwhile Russian air defenses destroyed Ukrainian drones overnight Russia s Ministry of Defense announced Monday The drones were shot down over Russian regions it reported Novikov communicated from Kyiv Ukraine Source
