U.S. Vice President JD Vance and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy convened European and Ukrainian national-security advisers at Chevening House in Kent on 9 Aug. to review the state of the war in Ukraine. The session, requested by Washington, included Ukrainian presidential-office head Andrii Yermak and security chief Rustem Umerov alongside senior EU counterparts. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the gathering “a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace,” while a U.S. official said the talks produced “significant progress” toward President Donald Trump’s goal of ending the conflict. Participants examined the terms of a Russian cease-fire announced earlier in the week and tried to align positions before Trump meets President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on 15 Aug. The Chevening discussions followed three days of trilateral phone diplomacy among Washington, Kyiv and European capitals. Vance, who remains in Britain on a working holiday, is due to hold separate meetings with Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage later this week, as small protests shadow his Cotswolds stay.