ANKARA / ISTANBUL

US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday met with senior Ukrainian and European officials in the UK to "establish common ground" ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote on X that he hosted a meeting with Vance, Ukraine’s Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, and European national security advisers at Chevening House "to discuss the next steps for peace in Ukraine."

***"The UK’s support for Ukraine remains ironclad as we continue working towards a just and lasting peace," Lammy wrote afterwards.

***According to online outlet Axios, following last Wednesday’s Moscow meeting between Putin and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a number of European leaders.

Witkoff, who was apparently included in the call, reportedly told participants that Putin had agreed to end the war if Ukraine agreed to cede the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions as well as Crimea, which Russia took in 2014.

A Ukrainian official said that even if Zelenskyy agreed to Putin's demands, a referendum would be necessary because under its Constitution, Ukraine cannot cede its territory.

To date Zelenskyy has ruled out making territorial concessions to end the war, which began in February 2022.

Trump and Putin are due to meet on Friday in the US state of Alaska.