Coalition pushed for ceasefire, but may now change their tunepublished at 09:06 British Summer Time
Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent
The so-called coalition of the willing last met on Wednesday and, at that point, a ceasefire was one of their key aims.
They agreed that “meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or a lasting and significant cessation of hostilities”.
Since then, the prospect of a ceasefire has changed course.
President Trump said after his meeting with Putin that he wants to skip a ceasefire and move straight to a
lasting peace deal, a move which has worried many people in Ukraine.
Trump claimed that other Nato leaders agreed with him on
this – when I put that to a senior Downing Street source yesterday, they
wouldn’t confirm whether that was the case.
In a joint statement from European leaders on Saturday, and another from Starmer, the word ceasefire wasn’t used.
The leaders’ language on what they now think a peace deal
looks like could be one of the most interesting developments today.
I’m told that following the meeting of the coalition of the willing later, we can expect a joint statement from the leaders on the call.
One thing to look out for will be whether they talk about a potential ceasefire.
Image source, EPAStarmer co-chaired a virtual “coalition of the willing” meeting on Wednesday ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting