20 Aug 2025

ANDREW JEHRING, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday led calls to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table after Europe’s unprecedented White House diplomacy put the ball back in the Russian dictator’s court.

The Prime Minister suggested possible sanctions for Putin after co-chairing a virtual Coalition of the Willing meeting, debriefing their day trip to Washington DCand planning for the future.

US President Donald Trump also warned of a ‘rough situation’ if Moscow does not make peace as he pushed for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to meet Putin in Switzerland in the next two weeks.

A Downing Street spokesman said last night: ‘The leaders discussed how further pressure – including through sanctions – could be placed on Putin until he showed he was ready to take serious action to end his illegal invasion.’

German chancellor Friedrich Merz laid down the gauntlet to the Kremlin over any potential talks, saying: ‘We don’t know whether the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit.’

Hinting at more sanctions as Russia again barraged Ukrainian cities with 270 drones and ten missiles in an overnight attack, he added: ‘Therefore, persuasion is needed.’

It followed Monday’s extraordinary meeting in Washington where Mr Zelensky and the US President were joined by Sir Keir, chancellor Merz and the leaders of France, Italy, Finland, the EU and Nato.

Sir Keir hailed a ‘breakthrough’ after the unprecedented gathering garnered a US commitment to military involvement in security guarantees for Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky hopes to have such a proposal in writing within the next ten days to strengthen his hand before heading to any meeting with Putin to discuss territory.

The US administration’s unorthodox, realpolitik negotiations offer the most significant hope of bringing peace to Europe since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

But there remains real fear in Ukraine that they could be sold out as the White House seems loath to pressure Moscow with sanctions and military might, instead turning the screws diplomatically on Kyiv.

Ukrainian journalist Peter Zalmayev told the Daily Mail: ‘The message that Ukraine and Europe need to get through to Trump is that his getting the Nobel Peace Prize depends not on whether he ends the war in Ukraine, but on how he ends it.’

Mr Trump broke off Monday’s talks to call Putin and update him on progress, during which the two superpowers agreed to set up a bilateral meeting between the Russian tyrant and Mr Zelensky.

The President was typically bullish afterwards, saying the two adversaries are ‘getting along a little bit better than I thought’ despite ‘tremendous bad blood’.

He told Fox News that ‘otherwise I wouldn’t have set up the [bilateral] meeting, I would’ve set up a three – a trilat’. 

But he cautioned: ‘We’re going to find out about president Putin in the next couple of weeks… It’s possible he doesn’t want to make a deal.’

He added: ‘I hope president Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, then it’s going to be a rough situation. 

‘And I hope that Zelensky will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also. The thing is a mess.’

Yesterday, the Kremlin appeared to be dragging its heels over the plan, which would see a meeting with Mr Trump follow the one-on-one between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. 

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian state TV: ‘Without respect for Russia’s security… without full respect for the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people who live in Ukraine, there can be no talk of any long-term agreements.’

Further muddying the waters, a source in Mr Trump’s administration claimed it was Putin who suggested a meeting without the US President. 

During their call, Putin told Mr Trump: ‘You don’t have to come – I want to see him one on one,’ Politico reported.

It was also claimed Putin suggested they meet in Moscow – a clear non-starter for Kyiv, with Geneva one possible venue.

The Swiss confirmed that if Putin was visiting for peace talks, the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the dictator would not be acted upon.

Yesterday it was reported the Hungarian capital Budapest is the White House’s first choice to host any meeting, but press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied to comment at her press briefing.

Kremlin observers are, however, extremely sceptical that Putin would countenance a one-on-one meeting with Mr Zelensky in the coming days.