British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined a video call with European allies on Sunday ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House next week for talks with US President Donald Trump over the country’s war with Russia.

Starmer was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as hosts of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’, after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Alaska on Friday. Starmer praised the American President’s efforts, which he said had “brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.

“His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended. While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks involving President Zelenskyy. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him,” Starmer said in a statement.