The leaders of France, Germany and Britain yesterday staged a strong show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London at what they described as a "crucial time" for Kyiv, under US pressure to agree a proposed peace deal with Russia.

At a hastily arranged meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky said they wanted to come up with firm plans in case of a peace deal.

A British government source said the leaders would discuss using the value of frozen Russian assets. Earlier, leaders from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden urged the European Union to move quickly with a proposal to use the frozen assets to provide financing for Ukraine.

Starmer, Macron, Merz and Zelensky will also want to press on with efforts to get US security guarantees to help deter any further attacks from Russia. The publication of a US ceasefire plan last month has gone some way to focus the minds of European leaders.