Zelensky leaves for London for talks with allies – DW – 12/08/2025

UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock has said that Ukraine should not give up any territory in a peace deal with Russia.

Germany’s former foreign minister warned that rewarding Russia’s aggression by agreeing to give up the region would only lead to more war.

“You condemn an ​​act of aggression, you don’t reward it. Those who reward aggression will get more war than peace,” he said in comments published Sunday by Germany’s Funke media group.

Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the eastern Donbass region, large parts of which are held by Moscow’s forces.

Despite increasing US pressure to agree to the deal, Ukraine has refused to accept those conditions.

Baerbock declined to discuss what role the United Nations might play in enforcing a potential ceasefire.

“First, there should be a ceasefire and a peace agreement, then we can discuss how it can be implemented,” he said. “But for this, Russia must first be willing to end the war.”

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is traveling to Washington DC on Monday to meet her US counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The meeting comes as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine are gaining momentum, although talks remain at an impasse.

Cooper’s visit coincides with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosting the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine in Downing Street.

Cooper is visiting the US capital for the first time since being named Britain’s chief diplomat in September.

Cooper is also expected to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and the conflict in Sudan during his talks with Rubio.

US President Donald Trump suggested that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has not read the US proposal for peace in Ukraine.

US mediators met Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to present their proposal, which included amendments following talks with European officials.

“So we’re talking to President Putin and we’re talking to Ukrainian leaders — including Zelensky, President Zelensky — and I have to say, I’m a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t read the resolution yet, which was a few hours ago,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night.

Trump’s comments came a day after talks between US and Ukrainian officials, also attended by Zelensky, ended after three days without any breakthrough.

Moscow has also rejected aspects of Washington’s proposal.

One of the proposals in the US peace plan is that Ukraine hand over the eastern Donetsk region to Russia.

The estimated 200,000 civilians remaining in areas of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control are unreliable, yet there are fears that Ukraine may bow to US pressure.

Read more about what Ukrainians in Donbass think about Kiev being asked to leave the region.

On the eve of his visit to London, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Florida last week as “constructive, though not easy”.

Zelensky spoke with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is leading US efforts to secure an agreed peace deal for both Russia and Ukraine.

“The US representatives know Ukraine’s fundamental position,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Negotiations over long-term security guarantees for Ukraine and some Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine have stalled.

Moscow has blamed Kiev and Europe for prolonging the war, with Ukraine and its European allies accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of not sincerely engaging in peace talks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Monday for the latest round of talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will also attend the meeting at Downing Street.

Downing Street said on Sunday night that their meeting would discuss how to break the impasse in talks to end the nearly four-year war.

Despite a renewed US-led diplomatic effort in recent weeks, a ceasefire agreement has proven elusive.

Ukraine’s long-term security guarantees as well as the future of Russia’s occupied territory in eastern Ukraine remain one of the main issues blocking progress in the talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany in London on Monday to discuss the latest developments in US-led peace talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Washington’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s efforts at shuttle diplomacy have so far failed to yield success.

Zelensky is traveling to London after talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend ended without a deal.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is visiting Washington to meet her US counterpart Marco Rubio as diplomatic efforts to end the war continue.

Stay tuned as DW brings you the latest information on peace talks as well as other developments, reports and analysis on the war in Ukraine.