The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany have expressed their support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to open direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war that has lasted more than four years. They set out five conditions for achieving lasting peace and emphasized that Europe and the United States must play a key role in the process.
The leaders of the European security alliance group known as "E3"—comprising UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron—gathered at Downing Street in London to meet and issue a joint statement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They declared their support for opening direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, calling for both the United States and Europe to have important roles in this process.
This development followed President Zelenskyy's open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposing face-to-face talks to end the war entering its fifth year. In the letter, Zelenskyy stated that the Russian people are also growing weary of the war’s impacts, including drone and missile attacks deep within Russian territory by Ukraine, soaring inflation, and an oil shortage crisis.
Additionally, the Ukrainian leader emphasized that while the United States is focusing on the conflict in Iran, "It would be wrong for Europe to merely wait until the war in Europe regains US attention again."
At the joint meeting in London, the E3 group and Ukraine outlined five key conditions for reaching a "just and sustainable" agreement: a complete and concrete ceasefire declaration; using current front lines as the starting point for negotiations; Ukraine receiving legally binding security guarantees, including deployment of international forces; frozen Russian assets abroad will not be released until Russia fully compensates Ukraine for war damages; and Russia must respect Ukraine’s right to choose its security measures and alliances, including efforts to join NATO.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted on the platform X that the cooperation between the UK and Ukraine is "as strong as steel," adding that Ukraine's security is also Europe's security.
However, Zelenskyy’s proposal for talks was rejected by Putin, who described it as "insincere" and said there was no benefit in meeting at this time. He reiterated that Russia will only end the war once all military objectives have been achieved.
Nonetheless, Putin told foreign media that US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal might provide a way to end the fighting if the Ukrainian government is willing to compromise, aligning with the US attempt to pressure both sides into a ceasefire agreement last December.
The front-line situation remains increasingly severe. Before traveling to London, Zelenskyy strongly condemned Russia after a Russian military drone attacked a spent nuclear fuel storage building near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, causing partial structural damage and a fire.
Ukraine's nuclear plant operator "Enerhoatom" stated that the fire was successfully controlled, no one was injured, and radiation levels remained normal. It criticized Russia for deliberately threatening nuclear safety. Zelenskyy called the attack "evil" against critical global infrastructure. Chernobyl is known as the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986 and was previously targeted by Russian drones last year, striking the reactor's containment dome.
Furthermore, Ukraine has faced one of the largest air attacks since the war began in 2022. On Saturday, reports indicated at least three deaths from a strike on a village outside the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.