UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen discussed “the need to secure a just and enduring peace in Ukraine” on a call Saturday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The call comes on the back of concerns among European leaders over being sidelined by US President Donald Trump from talks with Russia on the future of the conflict in Ukraine, which marks its third anniversary on Monday.

“Ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s barbaric illegal war, they discussed the need to secure a just and enduring peace in Ukraine, and agreed that Europe must step up for the good of collective European security,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

In a separate call on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Starmer reiterated “UK’s ironclad support for Ukraine”, according to Downing Street.

“They agreed that this was a significant moment for the future of Ukraine and European security at large,” said the statement, which comes amid a strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.

“The Prime Minister repeated that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war,” the spokesperson said, adding that Starmer would discuss the conflict at his meeting with Trump in Washington next week.

Starmer is hoping to use his talks with Trump to act as a “bridge” between the US and Europe and ensure territorial and security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a deal to end the war.

The task looks increasingly challenging following a public spat in the last week between Zelensky and Trump, who called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator”.

Trump also accused Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron of doing nothing to end the war in a Fox News interview on Friday.