{"id":160969,"date":"2025-08-17T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-starmer-and-other-european-leaders-to-meet-as-zelenskyy-prepares-for-crunch-talks-with-trump-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T08:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:46:00","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-starmer-and-other-european-leaders-to-meet-as-zelenskyy-prepares-for-crunch-talks-with-trump-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-starmer-and-other-european-leaders-to-meet-as-zelenskyy-prepares-for-crunch-talks-with-trump-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Starmer and other European leaders to meet – as Zelenskyy prepares for crunch talks with Trump – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders in the ‘coalition of the willing’ will meet today as Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to visit Washington tomorrow. His crunch talks with Donald Trump come after the US president met Vladimir Putin for the first time in more than six years on Friday.
Sunday 17 August 2025 09:29, UK
Melania Trump’s letter to Vladimir Putin about the safety of children has been made public.
The US first lady had her husband Trump hand-deliver the letter to the Russian president in Alaska on Friday.
Earlier reports suggested it was a personal letter about the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia, particularly abducted children.
Ukraine has previously claimed Russia has abducted tens of thousands of its children from families and taken them to Russian territory.
Moscow says it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.
But the letter, which was initially shared by Fox News and then Attorney General Pam Bondi, does not mention specific claims, or even name Ukraine.
Instead, the first lady urges Putin to think of children and “an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology”.
She tells Putin he could “singlehandedly restore” the “melodic laughter” of children who have been caught in the conflict.
“In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone – you serve humanity itself,” she wrote on White House stationery.
Sky News’ producer in Ukraine has been doing some digging into reports that Vladimir Putin made territorial demands in his meeting with Donald Trump on Friday.
During their summit in Alaska, the Russian leader is said to have told the US president he wants the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions – and would give up other Ukrainian territories held by his troops in exchange.
Our Ukraine producer’s source from Ukrainian officials says this is the case, and that Putin has “promised” not to launch new attacks and capture Zaporizhia and Kherson as long as Ukrainian troops surrender in Donetsk and Luhansk.
There have also been reports that Putin told Trump he would be willing to “return” territories in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
But the source said this is not a “swapping of lands”, as some have suggested, because Russians have “very little control” in some parts of those areas, which they say is “completely incomparable with Donetsk region”.
You can hear more about some of the other concerns for Ukraine after the Alaska summit below.
By Martha Kelner<\/a>, US correspondent<\/b>
There will be no red carpet or fly past, no round of applause when Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Washington DC on Monday.
But the bitter memory of his last visit to the White House will feature prominently in the Ukrainian president’s thoughts.
In February, he was mocked for not wearing a suit and told he didn’t “have the cards” by US President Donald Trump, before being walked off the premises early, like an unruly patron being thrown out of the bar.
Zelenskyy knows he is risking another ambush in the Oval Office but has to present himself as a willing participant in peace talks, out of fear of being painted as the obstacle to a resolution.
Read more here…
European leaders who make up the ‘coalition of the willing’ are set to hold a conference call today ahead of crunch talks between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy tomorrow.
The coalition – co-chaired by Sir Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz – has the aim of bringing countries together to protect a peace deal in Ukraine.
Sky News understands the European leaders have been invited to the meeting in Washington tomorrow by Trump, and that they will be discussing whether or not they will send someone.
Politico and Russian news agency Interfax have reported Finnish president Alexander Stubb would likely be the leader to attend.
Zelenskyy had a torrid time at the White House on his own in February, when tensions rose between him and Trump and his VP JD Vance in front of the media.
Our political correspondent Liz Bates<\/a><\/b> says securing a concrete commitment from Trump on a security guarantee for Ukraine is also high on the agenda.
She says it would act as a powerful backstop in any Russia-Ukraine peacekeeping arrangement.
She also says they will discuss how to bring Zelenskyy into talks after he was left out of Trump and Putin’s meeting on Friday.
We’re back with our coverage of the Ukraine war this morning,
Yesterday, Donald Trump described his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska as “very productive”, without mentioning a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Putin said the meeting was “useful and timely”. He also said he respected the US administration’s position “which wants the hostilities to stop as soon as possible”.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to meet the US president in Washington tomorrow.
He said the meeting would be “to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war” and added he was “grateful for the invitation”.
The meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Zelenskyy since his infamous showdown with Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, in the Oval Office this February.
Here are the other key lines from the last 24 hours:
We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more updates on the war in Ukraine.
Today, Vladimir Putin issued his first comments on his visit to Alaska, saying it was “useful and timely” and that the conversation he had with Donald Trump was “sincere and substantive”.
It came after Trump described the meeting as “very productive”, without mentioning a ceasefire.
Here are the other key lines from today: 
European officials will decide this weekend whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be accompanied on a visit to Washington to meet Donald Trump on Monday, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul has said.
Asked whether German Chancellor Friedrich Merz could accompany Zelenskyy to Washington, Wadephul said plenty of Europeans would be willing to travel with the Ukrainian president if that decision were taken.
“That’ll be agreed this weekend, and Friedrich Merz’s willingness to assume responsibility is evident; he has demonstrated this very clearly in the last few days,” Wadephul has told German broadcaster ARD.
“This will be discussed together.”<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is preparing for his meeting with Donald Trump on Monday.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian leader said he was “grateful” for the invitation from Washington and it was “important that everyone agrees there needs to be a conversation at the level of leaders” to determine which steps are necessary and will work when it came to the war. 
Here is what Zelenskyy has said this evening…
Monday’s meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Zelenskyy since his infamous showdown with Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, in the Oval Office this February.
Lunch for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was reportedly cancelled during their meeting in Alaska but it was intended to be a simple three-course meal, the National Public Radio<\/a> (NPR) reports.
The  American public broadcasting organisation says papers with US State Department markings, which were found on Friday morning in an Alaskan hotel, reveal that the two leaders were set to have a working lunch.
The pages, which were reviewed by NPR, shows that on the set menu was a green salad, followed by a filet mignon and halibut olympia and a creme brulee for desert.
Images are emerging of Ukrainian troops training in the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
The scenes come following Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its invasion in 2022.
Before the summit, Trump had said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on. 
But afterwards he said that, after Monday’s talks with Zelenskyy, “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin”.<\/p>\n

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