U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron may accompany Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his next trip to Washington, D.C., a spokeswoman for the French government announced on Wednesday.
"We are considering the possibility that Emmanuel Macron will soon travel to Washington alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer," Sophie Primas said following a government meeting. Primas did not specify a date for the potential summit but mentioned it could happen "in the near future."
News of joint meeting comes following a whirlwind of diplomatic activity following the now infamous public blowup between Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week. On Monday, Trump then suspended all military aide to Ukraine, including preventing those weapons already in transit from reaching the frontlines. A week prior Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered U.S. Cyber Command to refrain from all cyber offensive operations against Russia with some calling the move "indefensible."
France has openly balked at the recent U.S moves with Prime Minister François Bayrou calling the decisions "unbearable" and adding, "The suspension in war of assistance to an aggressed country signifies that the aggressed country is being abandoned and that one accepts — or hopes — that its aggressor wins."
During Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening, the president read a letter from Zelenskyy in which he stated his intentions to "come to the negotiating table" following last Friday's tension filled meeting. Trump responded, "I appreciate that he sent this letter," adding, "The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians."