Zelenskiy to be at Ukraine allies meeting in UK: MacronStaff WritersReutersTue, 21 October 2025 2:37AM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend a meeting of Ukraine’s allies known as the “coalition of the willing” in London, French President Emmanuel Macron says.
“This Friday, we will have a meeting of the coalition of the willing – partly virtual and partly in-person – in London, and President Zelenskiy will be there,” Macron said on Monday, speaking to journalists in Slovenia.
The so-called “coalition of the willing” – put together by France and the United Kingdom in February – has held talks for months at various levels to try to define plans for what they could contribute militarily for Ukraine and to deter Russia from attacking it again once there is a final truce.
Zelenskiy on Monday painted his meeting last week with President Donald Trump as a success that yielded progress on acquiring new air defence systems, in contrast to other reports that Trump had berated him in the White House.
In comments made to media on Sunday initially off-the-record but authorised for publication on Monday, the Ukrainian leader described Trump’s message at the meeting, which ended with Trump calling for a ceasefire with forces in place, as “positive”.
As a result of Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington DC, Ukraine was now preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems, a major boost to its defences against Russian missile attacks, Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy was speaking before Reuters and other news organisations reported that Trump had pushed Zelenskiy to give up territory during their meeting, which sources described as more tense than initially disclosed.
“After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with (Trump) and his team, his message, in my view, is positive: that we stand where we stand on the front line,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy did not specify how close Ukraine had come to signing the contract for the 25 Patriots but he said that a great deal of time on his trip had been spent discussing the issue, including directly with Trump.
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