Ukraine president to meet allies after Trump's criticism

 

Following President Donald Trump's accusation that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had not read the US plan to end the war with Russia, Zelensky was scheduled to meet with European allies in London on Monday.

Zelensky pledged to continue talks after days of consultations between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami concluded on Saturday with no apparent progress.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the chancellor of Germany, and the president of France will meet with the Ukrainian president in London to discuss the negotiations.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine, was supposed to meet with European allies in London on Monday after President Donald Trump accused him of not reading the US plan to end the war with Russia.

After days of deliberations between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami ended on Saturday with no apparent progress, Zelensky promised to continue negotiations.

The president of France, the chancellor of Germany, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with the president of Ukraine in London to discuss the negotiations.

During the Miami negotiations, Zelensky claimed to have joined his negotiators for a "very substantive and constructive" call with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

Zelensky stated on Telegram that the parties had reached an agreement "on the next steps and the format of the talks with America" and that "Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace."

On Sunday, however, Trump chastised his Ukrainian colleague, saying to reporters, "I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago."

Last week, Witkoff and Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, where Moscow rejected some of the US proposal.

Prior to Monday's negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Russia's "escalatory path." "We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible," Macron stated on X. He continued: "We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace."

Washington's original plan to end the almost four-year conflict called for Ukraine to give up territory that Russia has failed to capture on the battlefield in exchange for security guarantees that don't meet Kyiv's demands to join NATO.

However, aside from a preliminary plan stating that jets to defend Kyiv might be placed in Poland, the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get has remained unclear thus far.

Since taking office again in January, Trump's stance on Ukraine has fluctuated. He first praised Putin and chastised Zelensky for not being appreciative of US assistance.

He recently imposed sanctions on Russian energy companies, but he has also become angry that his attempts to convince Putin to halt the war including a conference in Alaska have failed to yield results.