European Leaders Fail To Hide Grim Expressions In Ukraine Talks

European leaders are rarely upbeat when discussing the devastating war in Ukraine, but Monday’s talks seemed to take the despondence to the next level.

Despite rolling out the red carpet for Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside No.10 Downing Street, and embracing the embattled Ukrainian president tightly, Keir Starmer looked more than just a little concerned as he hosted the small delegation.

His counterparts, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz, wore similarly glum expressions.

Their hastily-arranged meeting came after Ukrainian negotiators failed to make any headway with their US opposites over the latest draft of Donald Trump’s peace deal.

The American president, who is desperate to secure an end to the war by any means possible, was accused of offering up a plan which would reward Russia for its aggression last month.

European allies then watered it down – but the Kremlin deemed some elements of that altered draft unworkable.

Trump has since blamed Zelenskyy for the hold-up, alleging that he has not even read the latest plan.

The US also published its National Security Strategy over the weekend which notably failed to list Russia as a threat, and instead called out European allies.

Amid wider fears that Washington would be happy to give away even more of Ukraine’s sovereign territory just to placate Putin, Starmer invited Zelenskyy, Merz and Macron to the UK to reiterate their support for the beleaguered country.

While the four leaders did not hold a press conference and only spoke for a few moments in front of the media, there were clear signs that all was not going well.

Merz, famously pro-America, was the first to publicly express his concerns about Trump’s plan, saying from Downing Street that he is “sceptical” about “some of the details coming in the documents from the US side”.

Meanwhile Macron said Europe has a “lot of cards in our hands” – a throwaway remark which could be seen as a reference to Trump’s infamous attack on Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February.

The US president told the Ukrainian leader “you don’t have the cards” when it comes to the war, and that Kyiv needed to “make a deal or we’re out”.

Zelenskyy painted an equally bleak picture by claiming: “We can’t manage without Americans… we can’t managed without Europe.”

Starmer mainly reiterated his support for Ukraine during today’s meeting in front of the cameras – but his facial expressions spoke for themselves.

Both Merz and Macron left after a short stay in Downing Street.

Starmer and Zelenskyy spoke in private about what they can do next to keep the US on side – while not giving too much to Russia – for an hour before parting ways – and looking rather glum.