The Ukrainian president posted a message on X in response to a picture of himself, Sir Keir, French president Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte holding talks in Paris on Thursday.
Following the discussions in the French capital, the Prime Minister said top brass from the UK, France and Germany would head to Ukraine for talks with Kyiv’s military chiefs to discuss plans for a force to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from attacking again if there is a deal to end the war.
He also said Mr Putin must be given a deadline to make progress on a Ukraine ceasefire, and accused him of “playing games” and attempting to drag the Donald Trump-initiated process out to allow his forces time to continue assaults on Ukraine.
Thank you for your support!
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 27, 2025
The allies agreed “we should be setting a framework and a deadline of delivering real progress, and that we should hold them to that deadline”, Sir Keir said.
He also told reporters that the “coalition of the willing” had agreed that Russia was “filibustering”, saying: “They are playing games, and they’re playing for time.
“It is a classic from the Putin playbook. But we can’t let them drag this out while they continue prosecuting their illegal invasion.”
The meetings in Paris come after Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause hostilities in the Black Sea following talks with the US in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump has been pressing European nations to up their defence spending in recent months, and there have been questions over what this means for the transatlantic relationship on security.
A senior Cabinet minister admitted on Thursday that the US president is “of course” a “part of the change” that ministers have referred to in recent weeks.
Ahead of her spring statement earlier this week, Rachel Reeves said the “world has changed” as she pledged to keep to her spending rules.
Speaking to Sky News, Pat McFadden said: “The international security position has obviously changed.
“We’ve been asked to step up in a very direct way on European security as part of the backdrop for the increase in defence expenditure that the Government announced a couple of weeks ago.”
Pushed further on whether Mr Trump was the changing factor given the war in Ukraine started several years ago, Mr McFadden added: “Of course he’s part of the change.”
He said: “He’s not all the change… he’s said that Europe needs to step up in its security. He’s not the first US president to say this but the question has definitely become sharper in recent weeks.”
The so-called “coalition of the willing” meeting in Paris also agreed there should be no easing of sanctions against Russia.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration appeared to signal its intent to ease sanctions on Russian agricultural goods and improve Moscow’s access to maritime insurance, ports and payment systems as part of a deal.
But Ukraine and its European allies have firmly pushed back against any suggestion of lifting sanctions, agreeing instead to increase measures to bring Russia to the negotiating table.
Sir Keir said there had been “complete clarity that now is not the time for lifting of sanctions”, while Mr Zelensky said sanctions were “one of the few real tools the world has to pressure Russia into serious talks”.
Thursday’s meeting also saw Sir Keir update the group of 30 nations, plus Nato and the EU, with the outcomes of a series of military planning talks for a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Officials and defence chiefs have been holding talks at London’s Northwood military headquarters throughout the week, drawing up a strategy to support Kyiv and deter future aggression from Moscow.
After the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the prospect of a “reassurance force” of European troops acting as a “second security guarantee” in the event of a deal.
He told a press conference: “These reassurance forces were what was proposed by the French and British not to keep the peace… it’s not about monitoring the forces on the contact line, it’s not a force that will replace or substitute for the Ukrainian army.”
He acknowledged that Mr Putin has not agreed to such a plan but “it’s not up to Russia what happens on Ukrainian soil”.
“So there will be a reassurance force bringing together several European forces and it will be deployed,” he said.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in Ukraine with both sides accusing each other of breaking the terms of a tentative US-backed agreement to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.
