Ukraine is preparing to present a revised peace plan to the White House after Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out surrendering territory to Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian president said the brand new proposal now comprises 20 points – down from 28 – after some ‘obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed’.
But he said there was still no agreement on giving up territory – something that Donald Trump believes is obligatory for peace but Ukraine and Europe have long resisted.
‘We’ve no legal right – under Ukrainian law, under our structure, under international law,’ the leader said. ‘Truthfully, we’ve got no moral right, either.’
One of the vital contentious points within the initial US-brokered 28-point deal involved Ukraine making land concessions – including Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk – which could be recognised as official Russian territories.
This comes as Ukraine’s European allies – prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz placed on a show of support for Zelensky at Downing Street on Monday.
‘The leaders all agreed that now’s a critical moment and that we must proceed to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,’ Starmer’s office said in an announcement.
His spokesperson, Tom Wells, added: ‘That is the furthest we’ve got in 4 years, and we welcome the indisputable fact that these talks are continuing at every level.’
He added that ‘intensive work’ will proceed in the times ahead, but that ‘there are still outstanding issues.’
Macron’s office said the meeting allowed the quartet to ‘proceed joint work on the US plan with a purpose to complement it with European contributions, in close coordination with Ukraine.’
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Protestor booted out of digital ID debate shouting ‘the people is not going to comply’
MORE: Digital ID debates begin – here’s all the things you should know
MORE: Keir Starmer now has a TikTok and it’s going about in addition to you’d expect