UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were willing to travel to Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as early as next week to present a united front on a peace plan to US President Donald Trump, diplomatic sources said, The Daily Mail reports.
Sources confirmed that a ceasefire could begin with an end to the aerial and naval bombardment by both sides. A source said that much of the damage was currently being carried out by airborne drones and missiles.
If successful, the two sides would then move towards a ceasefire on land, which a source said would be “harder to verify and easier to derail.”
Macron had initially suggested a one-month pause in the fighting in the air and at sea. But the proposal is now expected to be open ended.
In return, Starmer hopes to persuade President Trump to guarantee a US security “backstop” that would allow the UK, France, and other members of a developing “coalition of the willing” to send their own troops to keep the peace in Ukraine without fear of immediate attack by Russian forces.