Zelenskyy to discuss Russia-Ukraine war with British leader, NATO chief

London: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due in London on Tuesday for talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the British government said, as European countries look to keep international attention on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the unfolding Iran war engages world leaders.

Starmer’s office said that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will also join the meeting at 10

Downing St. to discuss peacemaking efforts in Ukraine and “the need to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia”.

The meeting comes days after the US temporarily waived some Russian oil sanctions in a bid to ease pressure on global supplies

triggered by the war in the Middle East, which was sparked by the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on February 28.

Zelenskyy criticised Washington’s move to ease sanctions, saying it

would provide a windfall for Moscow to keep up its attacks on Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump says he wants to secure a peace deal that ends Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and has rattled the continent’s leaders, who reckon that Russia could pose a credible security threat to the European Union by the end of the decade.

But US-brokered talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, which so far have yielded no significant progress on key issues, have lost momentum amid the Middle East conflict.