Ukraine at ‘critical moment’ in war; European allies ramp up Russia

Ukraine’s European allies on Monday said that the war is at a “critical moment” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is preparing to share a revised peace plan with the U.S.

Zelenskyy met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron in London as the European leaders scrambled to ensure that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and future security are not compromised in the face of growing U.S. pressure.

In a statement following the meeting, Starmer’s office said the leaders had discussed “the importance of the U.S.-led peace talks for European security” and supported the progress made so far.

“The leaders underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which includes robust security guarantees,” Starmer’s representatives added. “The leaders agreed that, while diplomatic efforts continue, Europe must stand with Ukraine, strengthening its ability to defend against relentless attacks.”

Starmer, Merz, Macron and Zelenskyy also discussed “positive progress” that had been made on using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, last week proposed using cash from the balances of European financial institutions holding frozen Russian Central Bank assets to support Ukraine with a “Reparations Loan.” It also tabled borrowing the funds from international markets, offering member states an alternative to using Russian capital.

The U.K. prime minister’s office noted that those present in Monday’s meeting had also joined a call with other European leaders following the initial talks.

“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,” the spokesperson said.

As the European leaders reiterated their support for Kyiv, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine also remained reliant on input from Washington.

“There are some things which we can’t manage without the Americans, some things we can’t manage without Europe, that’s why we need to make some important decisions,” he said, during a press briefing.

However, Merz struck a somewhat cautious tone on U.S. negotiators achieving an imminent breakthrough that would be acceptable to both Ukraine and the wider European continent.

“This could be a decisive time for all of us,” he told reporters. “We are trying to continue our support for Ukraine, on the other hand we are seeing these talks and decisions between Moscow and the U.S., I’m looking forward to hearing from [Zelenskyy] what the outcome of these talks might be.”

The U.K. and France have been leading proponents of a “Coalition of the Willing,” a group…