Ukrainian and European partners to join UK foreign secretary and US vice-president at Chevening for talks
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, will hold a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners in Britain on Saturday to discuss the drive for peace in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The summit comes ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for next Friday in Alaska. In a comment that that was met with pushback from Kyiv, the US president said that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers”.
Trump has agreed to meet the Russian president even if he refuses to meet Zelenskyy, adding to fears Ukraine could be sidelined in negotiations. In a Telegram post on Saturday in which he emphasised Kyiv must be represented for any peace deal to be viable, Zelenskyy wrote: “Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.”
The Guardian understands that the UK meeting will take place this evening in Chevening, Kent, and is being held at the request of the US. The summit will discuss the next steps on the US-brokered push for an end to the war and how Ukraine’s partners can support the effort.
