Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street on Thursday in a public display of solidarity on the eve of a high-stakes U.S.–Russia summit in Alaska. The leaders embraced outside the London residence before holding around an hour of talks focused on safeguarding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and maintaining Western support for Kyiv. The visit followed a virtual conference a day earlier that brought together Zelensky, Starmer, other European leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump. According to participants, Trump signalled readiness to endorse security guarantees for Ukraine and warned of “very severe consequences” should Russian President Vladimir Putin refuse to halt hostilities. Starmer told counterparts that any durable cease-fire must include robust guarantees and insisted international borders cannot be redrawn by force. Attention now shifts to Friday’s Trump-Putin meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, where Washington hopes to broker at least a cease-fire framework. Kyiv and its European backers fear a bilateral deal could sideline Ukraine, even as Russian forces continue to press an offensive, advancing roughly 10 kilometres near Dobropillia in the Donetsk region this week. Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington early next week for follow-up talks as diplomatic manoeuvring intensifies.