British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that the UK and France will work with Ukraine to draw up a ceasefire plan to present to the United States.

The initiative came after Starmer's telephone diplomacy involving Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump, and Emmanuel Macron, following the acrimony between Zelenskyy and Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the international summit on Ukraine on Sunday, Starmer suggested that "possibly some others" could be involved in drawing up the ceasefire plan.

Starmer described the initiative as "an important step forward", after ties between Kiev and Washington were severely damaged during Friday's public confrontation between the Ukrainian and US presidents.

"Nobody wants this conflict to continue, least of all the Ukrainians," Starmer told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, adding that he believes Trump is also committed to a "lasting peace" in Ukraine.

Pressed on the details of the potential ceasefire plan that could be accepted by President Trump, Starmer said: "That means a line is agreed - the terms of the deal - and then that line is defended."

"President Zelenskyy is rightly concerned that if there is to be an agreement, it has to stick. That's why we talked a lot about what the guarantees are - how we all defend the deal if it goes through," said Starmer.

(Source: Euronews)