Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump and agreed their teams will work together on the US president’s peace proposal for Ukraine during talks in Geneva.
The Prime Minister relayed to Mr Trump what he had discussed with members of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine at the G20 summit in South Africa on Saturday and agreed to talk to the US leader again on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
It was understood to be a “good and constructive” call.
I spoke with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom @Keir_Starmer. We had a long conversation and covered many nuances of diplomatic work in planning the peace process. Coordination will continue, and I am grateful to the British society for their support. Tomorrow, our advisers…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 22, 2025
The conversation came after Sir Keir spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reiterated the UK’s “steadfast support” for Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky said he and Sir Keir “covered many nuances of diplomatic work” in efforts to end the war with Russia in the call.
Sir Keir and other leaders have pushed back against the US-drafted plan for Ukraine, raising concerns about proposals to make Kyiv limit its armed forces and give up territory and its path to Nato membership.
US, Ukrainian and European national security advisers (NSAs) are due to gather in Switzerland on Sunday to “go through quite a bit of detail” of the framework, the Prime Minister said earlier.
Mr Trump, who shunned the South Africa G20 summit, initially suggested he wanted a Ukrainian response by Thursday.
But he has since signalled there is some room for negotiation in Geneva, saying “no” when asked whether his proposals were final.
Sir Keir said the inclusion of an “article five” security guarantee “fortifies” his belief that the US leader wants a “just and lasting peace”.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, following their meeting at the Johannesburg G20 summit, he and international leaders called Washington’s plan drawn up secretly with Moscow “a basis which will require additional work”.
Sir Keir told reporters in Johannesburg: “We are concerned about (caps on military) because it’s fundamental that Ukraine has to be able to defend itself if there’s a ceasefire.”
He said that the allies of Ukraine agreed that “there are elements in the 28-point plan which are essential to lasting peace, but it requires additional work, and that we are going to engage on that”.
Sir Keir added: “And that’s why there’s been the agreement that in Geneva tomorrow, you’ll have senior US personnel, you’ll have European NSAs, including the UK NSA, and obviously Ukrainians there to work further on the draft.”
UK NSA Jonathan Powell is understood to have left the G20 summit in South Africa early to head to Switzerland.
The inclusion of an article five security guarantee – Nato’s mutual defence provision under which an attack on one member is an attack on the entire bloc – is seen as “integral and significant” to Washington’s plan, it is understood.
Sir Keir said: “That’s about the strongest guarantee that can be put forward.
“And so that fortifies in me the belief that what we’re all trying to achieve here is a just and lasting peace.”
Mr Trump’s actions and their “one-on-one” discussions on Ukraine had also made this “clear”, the Prime Minister added.
The 28-point plan is said to have been negotiated by the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev, with Kyiv and European allies left out of the process.
Mr Witkoff, US secretary of state Marco Rubio and US army secretary Daniel Driscoll will attend the Geneva talks for Washington.
Mr Zelensky, in a video address to his nation, said Ukrainian representatives at the talks in Switzerland “know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out” another invasion.
“Real peace is always based on security and justice,” the Ukrainian leader added.
It emerged this week that the White House had been secretly forging a plan to end the conflict, with the issue dominating the G20 meeting designed to bring together the world’s leading economies.
The UK will host the global gathering in 2027, Sir Keir confirmed, saying it would allow Britain “to shape the global agenda once again” and drive economic growth.
