British PM To Discuss Ukraine's Fate With Italian Leaders, Germany And Poland

JAKARTA - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday will host Italian leaders, Germany, Poland and other allies to discuss their response to Donald Trump's push for peace in Ukraine that forces radical re-thinking of the continent's security.

The US president appears to be ignoring a more friendly US approach to Ukraine to Russia's war, and ignoring most European countries by saying they should step up defense spending and be responsible for their own security.

This Sunday's meeting came shortly after Starmer returned from key negotiations with Trump in Washington, where the British leader hopes his promise to increase the defense budget will help maintain close ties between the two allies.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Trump earlier this week as part of Europe's efforts to convince Trump not to rush into a ceasefire agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, remain involving Europe and Ukraine, and discuss military guarantees against Ukraine.

Starmer said on Tuesday he would host a number of countries to continue discussing how we move forward together as allies given the situation we are facing.

As reported by Reuters on Wednesday, February 26, a spokesperson for Starmer said it was too early to say who would come to the summit.

European leaders, including Starmer, held an emergency meeting in Paris earlier this month where they discussed higher defense spending but had different opinions on the idea of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he would join Starmer in London on Sunday.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are also expected to attend, and Dutch media reports state Prime Minister Dick Schoof will also attend.

Trump has opened talks with Russia about an agreement to end the war and firmly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

In response, European leaders have stepped up diplomatic efforts to demonstrate unity in supporting Kyiv.

However, Europe's tentative plans regarding security guarantees to maintain peace in Ukraine rely on the United States' willingness to provide an unspecified barrier to prevent Russia from carrying out another attack.