European leaders and Zelensky in London searching for 'new phase' to peace talks

Day 1,383.

Today, after a weekend marked by continued talks in Florida between the Ukrainian and American delegations and President Donald Trump’s comments blaming Zelensky for stalling negotiations, the Ukrainian president meets British PM Keir Starmer, French President Macron and German Chancellor Merz in London today. The talks, which finished as we were recording this episode, opened with Germany’s ‘scepticism’ of US peace proposals and France’s assurance that ‘Europe had a lot of cards in its hands.’ Meanwhile, Russia targets a dam near Kharkiv which supplies water to Ukraine's second biggest city. Finally, we discuss the US’s National Security Strategy and the current state of Ukraine’s air defence.

Contributors

Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

With thanks to Michael Bohnert (RAND). @mbohnert on X.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Zelenskiy Says No Accord Yet on Ukraine’s East in US Talks, Bloomberg News

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-08/zelenskiy-says-no-accord-so-far-on-eastern-ukraine-in-us-talks

Trump: Zelensky hasn’t even read my peace plan, The Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/08/ukraine-russia-war-latest-starmer-zelensky-trump-putin/

Kremlin: Trump’s new defence strategy ‘consistent’ with Russian vision, The Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/07/donald-trump-defence-strategy-russia-dmitry-peskov-kremlin/

France shielding €18bn Russian asset pot from EU ‘reparations loan’ push, Financial times

https://www.ft.com/content/fe304bb8-d928-4b9b-8162-2000301be937

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