France, Aug. 14 -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with ally UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday ahead of a key US-Russia summit in Alaska.

Zelensky was to arrive at 9:30am at Downing Street, the prime minister's office said, after Starmer on Wednesday maintained there was now a "viable" chance for a Ukraine ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin will meet Friday at an air base in the far-northern US state, the first time the Russian leader has been permitted on Western soil since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine which has killed tens of thousands of people.

A stepped-up Russian offensive, and the fact Zelensky has not been invited to the Anchorage meeting Friday, have he...