Britain said on Monday there were several possible proposals on the table for a possible Ukraine ceasefire, after France floated a proposal for a month-long initial truce that could pave the way for peace talks.
European countries, led by Britain and France, are looking at options for a peace proposal including Ukraine after last week’s Oval Office rupture between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There are clearly a number of options on the table,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said. “I’m just not getting into a running commentary on the options.”
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, when asked about the weekend activities of Europe rallying around Zelenskyy, told reporters: “So, we welcome Europe stepping up for Europe, but they have to also invest in the capabilities to do so.”
France, Britain and potentially other European countries have offered to send troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, but say they would want support from the U.S., a proposal referred to as a “backstop.”
Zelenskyy says a ceasefire must come with explicit security guarantees from the West to ensure Russia, which invaded Ukraine three years ago and holds about 20% of its territory, does not attack again. Trump has refused to give any such guarantees.
Starmer hosted a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday and said European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the United States.
In an interview given on his way to the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of a one-month ceasefire, although so far there has been no public endorsement from other allies.
“Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said of Macron’s proposal.
“And that’s when real peace negotiations could start.”
European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Macron said in the interview published in Le Figaro.
Zelenskyy, asked if he was aware of the plan mentioned by Macron, told reporters in London: “I’m aware of everything.”
European countries are adjusting to what some leaders describe as the biggest policy reversal since World War Two from Washington, especially after Friday’s bust-up when Zelenskiy left the White House abruptly after a dressing down in front of cameras by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
The Ukrainian leader had been in Washington to sign a deal to give the United States access to Ukrainian minerals, but left without signing it.
Speaking to Fox News, Waltz said Zelenskyy should apologize.
“What we need to hear from President Zelenskyy is that he has regret for what happened, he’s ready to sign this minerals deal and that he’s ready to engage in peace talks,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s too much to ask. We’ll see what happens in the next 48 hours, but we are certainly looking to move forward in a positive way.”
MERZ SAYS OVAL OFFICE CLASH ‘NOT SPONTANEOUS’
Friedrich Merz, the conservative due to become Germany’s chancellor after winning the largest share of the vote in an election a week ago, suggested Friday’s Oval Office argument was a trap set in advance for the Ukrainian leader.
“It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but obviously a manufactured escalation,” he said.
“We must now show that we are in a position to act independently in Europe,” he said.
Privately, European officials have been fuming at what they saw as a betrayal of Ukraine, which had previously enjoyed staunch support from the United States since Russia’s invasion.
One senior official declared in the aftermath of the blow-up: “Donald Trump has to choose if he wants to call himself a leader of the free world, or leader of an extortion gang. The latter is not interesting for Europe.”
But Europeans are also still working hard to keep the U.S. on side. Peter Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the United States, said Ukrainian-U.S. relations needed to be reset, as Trump’s initiative to end the war was “the only show in town.”
Trump spoke by phone with Putin last month and then announced negotiations to end the war would begin quickly blindsiding the EU and Zelenskyy.
European leaders agreed they must spend more on defense to show Trump the continent can protect itself. The European Union is due to hold an emergency summit on Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will inform member states on Tuesday about plans to strengthen the European defense industry and the EU’s military capabilities.
“We need a massive surge in defense, without any question. We want lasting peace, but lasting peace can only be built on strength, and strength begins with strengthening ourselves.”
Russia has openly gloated over Friday’s clash between Trump and Zelenskyy, praising Trump for altering U.S. policy and denouncing Zelenskyy for challenging Trump’s proposals.
“We see that the collective West has partially begun to lose its collectivity, and a fragmentation of the collective West has begun,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“There remains a group of countries that rather constitutes the party of war, which declares its readiness to further support Ukraine in terms of supporting the war and ensuring the continuation of hostilities.”
(Additional reporting by Sarah Young, Richard Lough, Makini Brice, Dmitry Antonov, Guy Faulconbridge, Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland and Angelo Amante; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff)