E3 leaders to meet Zelenskyy at Downing Street on 7 June as Europe steps into Ukraine peace diplomacy
French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will hold a trilateral summit at Downing Street on Sunday 7 June starting at 18:30, with Zelenskyy joining one hour later. The Elysee Palace said the summit would focus on continuing coordination to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia, including progress on the Coalition of the Willing, whose next plenary France will host in Paris on 13-14 July. The meeting follows Zelenskyy's June 4 open letter to Putin proposing a ceasefire and direct talks, and comes as US-led peace efforts have stalled -- Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said at an EU summit in Montenegro that Europe must now take on the role of ending the war.
French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will hold a trilateral meeting at Downing Street on Sunday 7 June starting at 18:30 London time, after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join them separately one hour later. The Elysee Palace confirmed the visit, saying the talks would "allow us to continue our close coordination on our shared agenda of maintaining support for Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia." Russia is currently "facing a difficult economic and strategic situation and is not achieving success on the battlefield," the Elysee added.
The summit will also cover the Coalition of the Willing. France is set to host the coalition's next plenary in Paris on 13-14 July, coinciding with Bastille Day. After a 24 February session, more than 30 participating countries confirmed their role in providing multi-layered security guarantees for Ukraine with US support. In January, Starmer, Macron and Zelenskyy had signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops in Ukraine should a peace agreement be reached. The Elysee framed the summit as an opportunity to discuss "efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Europe, particularly with regard to the Coalition of the Willing."
The three European capitals positioned the meeting as partly filling a diplomatic vacuum. US-led peace talks have reached an impasse as President Donald Trump has concentrated attention on the Iran conflict. Macron, speaking at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat, Montenegro, said Europe "has always advocated for direct negotiations between Ukraine and the Kremlin" and added: "It is the Europeans who can help." Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was more direct: "Trump doesn't have time for this. He's too busy with the Strait of Hormuz, and Europe has to take on the role of ending the war."
Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, was first to report the meeting; the same sources noted that Zelenskyy's plans could still change and the meeting might be rescheduled. The gathering is linked to Zelenskyy's June 4 open letter to Putin proposing an immediate ceasefire and bilateral talks, which Macron described as "a good initiative." EU divisions remain over the pace of engagement with Moscow: at a recent EU ambassadors meeting the Baltic states urged the bloc to proceed cautiously, while Austria expressed interest in appointing a dedicated EU envoy to negotiate with Putin. Chief EU diplomat Kaja Kallas warned that such an envoy idea is "a trap that Russia wants us to fall into, so that we discuss who is talking to them."
The Downing Street summit follows the emergence one day earlier of a discrete E3 diplomatic track -- when France, Germany and the UK began coordinating their own initiative to engage Russia as the US-led channel remained stalled.