European leaders walk tightrope between backing Ukraine and keeping US on board

Europe's leaders are trying to avoid alienating Donald Trump while fighting for Ukrainian sovereignty and future continental stability.

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In London, Zelensky held talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The meeting came amid US efforts to get Moscow and Kyiv to sign up - quickly - to a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

For Kyiv, the crucial, thorny issues are the question of ceding territory to Russia as part of any peace deal and obtaining strong security guarantees to ensure that Moscow respects an eventual agreement.

Ahead of the meeting in London, Starmer insisted - as he often has in the past - that Ukraine needed "hard-edged security guarantees". He has also repeatedly said that Kyiv must determine its own future, not have conditions imposed on it.