LONDON 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are due to meet in London for talks ahead of a summit Friday between the US and Russian leaders in the US state of Alaska.

The Ukrainian president is expected to meet with the British premier at Downing Street in London on Thursday morning, according to media reports, citing a government official.

It comes just a day before a critical meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

The Alaska talks will be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since the start of the Moscow-Kyiv war, which is nearing three-and-a-half years.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Trump expressed his readiness to provide his country with security guarantees.

Meanwhile, Trump on the same day threatened his Russian counterpart with "very severe consequences" if he does not agree to end the war in Ukraine during their upcoming summit in Alaska.

Trump's remarks came just hours after he attended a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy and other European leaders, which the US president said was "very good."

Although European officials have welcomed Trump's initiative to bring peace, ending the Russia-Ukraine war, they have always been cautious, fearing that the US president might try to force Kyiv into carving up its territory.

Trump earlier said Russia and Ukraine would swap territories as part of a peace agreement.