Britain’s King Charles III and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, eastern England, on March 2, 2025. ” This evening, His Majesty The King received the President of Ukraine”, The Ryal palace announced . @ZelenskyyUa, at Sandringham House. JOE GIDDENS/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
President Volodymyr Zelensky met King Charles in London Sunday, following the heated spat between the Ukrainian leader and U.S. President Donald Trump Friday, as pressure grew on U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to withdraw his royal visit invitation to Trump.
His talks with the British monarch came after meeting Starmer, who later convened European leaders for emergency meetings on Ukraine.
Why It Matters
Ukraine, its European allies and many U.S. lawmakers are still reeling from Zelensky’s Oval Office visit, where Trump peppered the Ukrainian leader with accusations of “gambling with World War Three” in front of the world’s media and broadcasting cameras.
Downing Street said in advance of the meeting that the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and several other NATO countries would be part of Starmer’s doubling down on efforts to reach a “just” peace agreement.
NATO’s Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa also traveled to London for the summit.
Zelensky shared a clip of his meeting with Italian leader and Trump ally Giorgia Meloni, calling the encounter “productive.”
Speaking to the BBC earlier on Sunday, Starmer said he had agreed that the U.K. and France, and “possibly one or two others,” would “work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States.”
“I think we’ve got a step in the right direction,” Starmer said. European countries have expressed indignation at being sidelined by the U.S. in negotiations over a peace deal for Ukraine.
Starmer also dismissed calls to cancel a royal invitation from King Charles to the U.S. President for a U.K. state visit, an offer presented by the British leader at the Oval Office Thursday.
Scottish first minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician John Swinney told the BBC on Sunday that it was “an absolutely fundamental requirement of any offer of a state visit” extended to the U.S. President that the U.S. leader would be “absolutely full-square with us in protecting Ukraine and insuring its independence.”
“Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity must be defended,” Swinney said in a separate social media post. “If President Trump won’t stand with us on this, a U.K. state visit shouldn’t be on the table.”
But Starmer said: “I’m not going to be diverted by the SNP or others trying to ramp up the rhetoric.”
Trump had called Zelensky a “dictator” in recent weeks, before denying he said it in his White House meeting with Starmer, when the U.K. leader presented Trump with the King’s letter of invitation for a state visit.
Should the visit go ahead, Trump’s return to the U.K. would make him the first elected leader in recent history to have two state visits to a British monarch.
Who Said What
Stephen Flynn, the leader of the SNP’s presence in Westminster, had said in a post to social media on Friday that “Starmer had better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit.”
Starmer told the BBC on Sunday that he is “interested in what are the practical steps, what are the bridge building that I can do, what are the relationships that I can mend and take forward to take us to lasting peace in Europe.”
Zelensky wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after his meeting with Starmer: “I thank the people and government of the United Kingdom for their tremendous support from the very beginning of this war. We are happy to have such strategic partners and to share the same vision of what a secure future should look like for all.”
What Happens Next
It’s not clear what will come out of the London summit, and whether European leaders will be able to bridge the gap opening up between Kyiv and Washington.
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