Downing Street hails ‘undoubtedly good’ meeting between Trump and Zelensky

There are suggestions the Ukrainian leader could be willing to cede control of Crimea.

Sir Keir Starmer meets Volodymyr Zelensky — Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met in the garden of The Villa Wolkonsky in Rome, Italy (PA)

Downing Street has welcomed the meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend as “undoubtedly good”.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer said that talks over a ceasefire in Ukraine are “not at the end of the process”, while the American leader suggested that his Ukrainian counterpart could be willing to cede control of Crimea.

Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump were pictured sitting down on the fringes of Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, having both travelled to the Vatican for the service.

The Ukrainian leader also had a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer, and Mr Zelensky and Sir Keir were also separately pictured in a conversation with Mr Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump in the Oval Office — The two leaders had a fraught meeting in February (AP)

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Monday: “It was undoubtedly good to see that meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky”.

He also said that Sir Keir had a “very good” meeting with Mr Zelensky, as well as conversations with other leaders “in the margins” at the gathering.

The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was the first since their fraught White House clash in February.

The US President turned his criticism towards Vladimir Putin on Saturday, writing on TruthSocial that the Russian leader could be “just tapping me along”. But he told reporters on Sunday that he thinks Mr Zelensky could be ready to give up Crimea, which has been occupied by Moscow since 2014.

Asked about a suggestion the US could recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Sir Keir told broadcasters on Monday: “We are not at the end of the process yet and the discussions that are ongoing, they will be continuing this week.”

He added: “We have always been really clear: unconditional ceasefire. It’s got to be lasting, because I don’t trust Putin, I think if it’s not a lasting ceasefire he will come back for more and we mustn’t allow that to happen again. It’s happened in the past.

Zelensky and Starmer — Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky met in Rome on the weekend of the Pope’s funeral (Getty Images)

“That’s why I have been clear about the role that the UK and others have to play in Europe, but we did make good progress in London last week and we have got to build on that now.”

It comes as the Kremlin declared a ceasefire from May 8-10.

Earlier on Monday, a minister had described the talks between the American and Ukrainian leaders at the weekend as a “step in the right direction”.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock told GB News that it was “very welcome to see that really constructive and clear dialogue” between the pair.

“I think it was a marked contrast with the very troubled scenes that we saw in the Oval Office when President Zelensky last visited Washington,” Mr Kinnock added.

“So I think that’s clearly a step in the right direction.”