Britain, France and Germany are set to host a video call on Sunday with Ukraine allies in a “coalition of the willing” to discuss steps towards peace in the war-torn nation, the French presidency announced.Led jointly by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the meet comes a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington in the wake of the US-Russia summit.Earlier in the day, Trump revealed he had held late-night discussions with several European leaders, including Nato’s secretary general and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which all sides agreed that the priority must be a lasting peace agreement rather than a temporary ceasefire.“The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO. It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump said.European leaders had voiced concern over Trump’s diplomatic overtures to Putin, contending that Zelensky should have been included in the Alaska summit.However, they backed the proposed three-way summit between Zelensky, Putin and Trump as the Alaska meet failed to deliver a ceasefire. In a joint statement, Macron, Merz, Starmer and von der Leyen vowed to keep up pressure on Moscow through sanctions until peace was secured, stressing that Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s entry into the EU or Nato.“We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy until there is a just and lasting peace,” said the European joint statement.
