The leaders of France and Britain are making tag-team visits to Washington this week. It's part of European efforts to persuade President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal in the three-year-old war with Russia.

President Donald Trump said he was hopeful that Russia's war in Ukraine was nearing an endgame as he met on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of the invasion. Trump,

Macron, who has built a cordial rapport with Trump, was the first European leader to visit him since the beginning of his second term on January 20. The French leader’s visit came at a time of growing public tensions between Europe and the US, especially over the continent’s security and over the fate of Ukraine in its war against Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, amid other meetings aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz said on Wednesday.

Zelensky was widely viewed in America as a Churchillian hero for putting up a surprisingly stubborn resistance to Putin’s 2022 invasion, reportedly brushing off an offer of a flight out of the country from then-President Joe Biden with the retort, “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Macron’s main opponent is ready to fight plans to pool European resources to make up for the looming loss of the U.S. military protection.

LONDON: Britain and France are working with Ukraine on plans to end the fighting with Russia, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, as European leaders gathered for crisis talks after a blowout