Starmer Reaffirms Ukraine Support Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 10 Downing Street on Thursday with a warm embrace, symbolizing continued UK support for Ukraine amid escalating tensions ahead of the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska. The meeting, devoid of public remarks, lasted approximately an hour, with Starmer walking Zelenskyy to his car for a final embrace before departure [1]. Zelenskyy’s visit followed virtual engagements with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders from Berlin earlier in the week. These leaders expressed concerns that the Alaska summit could sideline Ukrainian and European interests and potentially favor Russian positions [2].

The U.S.-Russia meeting, scheduled for Friday, is seen as a pivotal moment for Ukraine’s future. U.S. and European leaders have been vocal in their apprehensions that a bilateral agreement between Trump and Putin might pressure Ukraine into territorial concessions. Starmer, however, emphasized the importance of maintaining Ukraine’s territorial integrity in any potential ceasefire and reiterated that robust security guarantees must accompany any peace deal [3].

The Kremlin announced that the Alaska summit would begin at 11:30 a.m. local time, featuring a private one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin followed by a broader discussion with their delegations and a working breakfast [4]. Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, described the process, while Putin himself expressed hope that the U.S. and Russia could reach agreements on strategic weapons control and hostilities [5]. In a pre-summit briefing, Starmer acknowledged the importance of the Alaska meeting but warned that Western allies must be prepared to increase pressure on Russia if necessary [6].

French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted that Trump had clarified during the virtual meetings that the U.S. and other parties—not NATO—should participate in future security arrangements for Ukraine [7]. However, Trump did not explicitly commit to any U.S. military involvement during his press briefing, leaving many European leaders cautious [8]. Ukrainian citizens remain skeptical about the summit’s potential outcomes, with some expressing a loss of hope after years of unresolved conflict [9]. Others, like Anton Vyshniak, a Kyiv car salesman, argue that saving military lives should take precedence over border concerns [10].

Meanwhile, the war continued to take its toll. In Sumy, a missile strike injured a 7-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, while in Kherson, Russian artillery hit a village, injuring a 16-year-old boy [11]. On the Russian side, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged a major oil refinery in the Volgograd region [12].

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Source: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

[1] https://fortune.com/2025/08/14/starmer-zelensky-london-alaska-talks-putin-trump/