By Paul Sandle and Ronald Popeski
LONDON/KYIV June 7 (Reuters) - The leaders of Britain, Germany and France said on Sunday they supported a proposal for talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to secure a ceasefire, and Europe would play a role.
In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron “commended” Zelenskiy’s call for an end to the war and the proposal for direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, with active U.S. and European participation.
The leaders, who have an informal security alliance called the E3, which is one of Ukraine’s main international supporters, on Sunday were joined by Zelenskiy in Downing Street days after the Ukrainian leader published an open letter to Putin.
He proposed face-to-face talks with Putin about ending the war, which is now in its fifth year, but he was rebuffed by the Russian president.
“Leaders commended President Zelenskiy’s call for an end to the war, negotiated by diplomatic means, as set out in his letter to the president,” the statement said.
EUROPE INVOLVED
In his letter, Zelenskiy said Russians had grown tired of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, high inflation and fuel shortages, and were ready for peace.
He also said with the U.S. focused on the conflict in Iran, “it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the centre of its attention”.
Putin said the offer did not come across as sincere and he currently saw no point in meeting, adding an agreement “for the long term” was needed.
The European leaders and Zelenskiy set out the conditions that would need to be in place to secure a “just and lasting peace”, starting with an immediate and complete ceasefire.
They said the current line of contact should be the starting point for talks, that Ukraine should have legally binding security guarantees, including the deployment of a multinational force, and Russian assets would remain immobilised until Russia had compensated Ukraine for the damage caused by the war.
Finally, the four leaders said any European security interests must be safeguarded.
Zelenskiy said on X that the leaders discussed possible ways to reinvigorate diplomacy and Europe’s role in this process.
“For Ukraine, it has always been a priority that Europe’s position and voice in the negotiations be strong,” he said.
Putin stuck to his hardline stance on the war in a meeting with international media on Thursday, but he also said U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposals for peace could end the fighting if Kyiv were ready to compromise.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, Paul Sandle and Kate Holton; Editing by Mark Potter, Elizabeth Piper and Chris Reese)
