Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. This comes one day before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.

London

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, where discussions centered on continued support for Ukraine, peace and security guarantees, and UK investment in Ukrainian drone production. The meeting comes just before a high-profile summit in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, from which Zelensky and other European leaders have been excluded.

Starmer reaffirmed the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine, while expressing hope that the Alaska talks could advance peace if Russia demonstrates genuine commitment. The Alaska summit is set to begin with a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin, followed by broader discussions, but without Ukrainian or European representation. Ukrainian refugees in Alaska expressed cautious optimism, hoping the talks might help end the conflict.

Zelenskyy, Starmer meet ahead of Trump, Putin summit in Alaska

To Russia's war on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived to a warm welcome in London earlier. He went there to see UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Zelensky is on a diplomatic whirlwind tour. Tomorrow, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are going to meet in Alaska. Zelensky has not been invited to that summit. CBC's Krystal Lomansingh is outside 10 Downing Street with the latest. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says support for Ukraine is unwavering. And this morning, not too far from where I'm standing right now, Starmer met and embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Now, unlike other meetings, we didn't see the jovial smiles, the pats on the shoulder or the turning to camera and giving a big nod. In fact, after the two embraced, shook hands and they turned to the cameras for a few photos, you saw Zelensky let out a great big exhale. No doubt it is heavy times for the Ukrainian President. After all, he is just hours away from a major summit about the future of his country and peace and he will not be in attendance. Instead, it will be Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with US President Donald Trump. While here at Downing Street, they met for about an hour. The two sides did share some video of their meeting and a few pictures. Zelensky said that he talked to Starmer about support for Ukraine, about peace guarantees, security guarantees and UK investments for Ukrainian drone production. Now, for his side of things, we did hear from the UK Prime Minister. He put out a very, very brief statement saying that talks in Alaska present a viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace. There is clear mistrust of Putin from not only European leaders, but Ukrainians as well. We do know that at that summit tomorrow in Alaska, the Kremlin has said that it will be a one-on-one meeting to start with the two presidents, then larger delegation will join the conversation, and then the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said there will be a joint press conference. That is now up for debate. It might in fact be separate press conferences, but they will be meeting tomorrow in Alaska without Ukraine and without any kind of European input. As for Ukrainians, there are a number of refugees in Alaska and they are trying to remain optimistic. We have to be hopeful. We don't have a lot of opportunity to end this war. We are praying for peace. We want peace. We want the war to end. We want people to stop dying. And if there is any way that President Trump can influence Putin to stop the killing, we'll believe in that. We have to believe in that. We have to hold on to this and hope that something good will come of it. It is a step forward compared to what we've seen before. But I'm still cautiously optimistic, I'd say. Of course, I really want the war to be over and for the bloodshed to be stopped. What exactly will follow the talks in Alaska, we don't yet know, but clearly everyone is paying very close attention. Krystal Gamansingh, CBC News, London.

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