Ceasefire talks show viable chance

Keir Starmer suggests a possible Russia Ukraine ceasefire ahead of a Trump Putin summit.

Ceasefire has viable chance says Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer told European leaders there is a viable chance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine ahead of Friday’s Alaska meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, who are not attending the meeting, held a joint call with Trump to reiterate their position. Starmer stressed that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be protected and that international borders must not be changed by force.

In a separate development, visiting US Vice-President JD Vance said it was Trump’s mission to bring peace to Europe once again. The gathering signals high level diplomacy, even as Kyiv’s absence from the talks raises questions about representation and what a potential deal could look like in practice.

The statement from Starmer frames the ceasefire as a real possibility, not a policy dead end. Yet a durable halt to fighting hinges on steps that go beyond rhetoric, including security guarantees and credible enforcement mechanisms. Diplomacy in this phase is as much about signaling as it is about signed agreements, and the Alaska meeting will test how much weight Western voices carry in shaping any agreement.

Observers should watch how domestic political calculations influence the talks. The absence of Kyiv from the Alaska discussions complicates the negotiation dynamic and could set expectations that a peace process is being managed without direct Ukrainian input. The mix of public diplomacy from UK and US leaders with on the ground realities in Ukraine underscores how delicate and slow progress can be in such a conflict.

Highlights

Diplomacy is a careful balance between words and actions.