The UK and France will work with Ukraine on a plan to end the fighting with Russia, which will later be presented to the United States, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday.
“The United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States,” Starmer told the BBC.
Starmer is hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Sunday for a summit on the conflict, which has taken on huge significance in the wake of the clash between the Ukrainian president and US counterpart Donald Trump.
Starmer told the BBC that “nobody wants to see” the scenes of the two leaders’ White House clash, and that “I am clear in my mind that he (Trump) does want a lasting peace.”
The prime minister has presented himself as a bridge between the United States and Europe, and met with Trump in Washington on Thursday.
Starmer, along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron were among several European leaders who reiterated their support for Kyiv after the row.
Macron called for “calm” between the two leaders in interviews with French media but also for a dialogue on a possible European nuclear “shield” as the continent could no longer rely on the United States.
In the interviews, he said everyone should “return to calm, respect… so we can move forward… because what is at stake is too important”.
Macron said any US “disengagement” in Ukraine was “not in its interests”, as forcing Kyiv to “sign a ceasefire without security guarantees” would see “its capacity to deter Russia, China and others would evaporate the same day”.
Guarantees
Starmer insisted that all parties needed “to find a way that we can all work together. Because, in the end, we’ve had three years of bloody conflict. Now we need to get to that lasting peace.” Starmer said.
“For me, the components of a lasting peace are a strong Ukraine to fight on, if necessary, to be in a position of strength; to negotiate a European element to security guarantees… and a US backstop.
“There’s a risk that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will come again if he’s given the opportunity to do so…, which is why I’ve been so centrally focused on what a guarantee is. How do we defend the line if a line is agreed,” he added.
Where that physical line would be is “a subject for discussion”, said Starmer.
Ukraine’s allies have been underscoring their steadfast commitment to counter growing concerns that Trump is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Russia.
Warm welcome
The day after he was kicked out of the White House, Zelensky was warmly welcomed to Downing Street on Saturday.
He twice embraced the British prime minister in front of cameras and secured a loan to strengthen defences depleted by more than three years of fending off Russia’s invasion.
“I thank the people and government of the United Kingdom for their tremendous support from the very beginning of this war,” Zelensky said.
“We are happy to have such strategic partners and to share the same vision of what a secure future should look like for all.”
The pair discussed Ukraine’s position and how to end the war “with a lasting and just peace… that will not allow Russia to use the ceasefire to rearm and attack again”, according to a statement released by Zelenksy’s office.
They also unveiled a £2.26 billion (€2.73 billion) loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defence capabilities, to be paid back with the profits of immobilised sovereign Russian assets.
“The funds will be directed toward weapons production in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay.”
Royal audience
Zelensky is due to meet King Charles III on Sunday before joining a cohort of European allies at a security summit.
The meeting brings together leaders from around continental Europe, including France, Germany, Denmark and Italy as well as Turkey, NATO and the European Union.
With fears growing over whether the United States will continue to support NATO, the gathering in the UK will also address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation.
France and Britain are the only European countries with a nuclear arsenal.
Macron insisted that Europe could no longer rely on “the American nuclear deterrent. We need a strategic dialogue with those who don’t have it [a nuclear shield], and that would make France stronger,” Macron told Le Parisien newspaper on Saturday.
He told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper it would take between five and 10 years to build up an autonomous European defence independent of NATO.
The French leader warned that if the United States made were to conclude an agreement with Russia “without the Europeans around the table… it would be a rupture within the alliance”.
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“We are in favour of peace,” he insisted, “but not of a capitulation that takes place against the backdrop of a rout or abandonment of the Ukrainians.”
On whether he would speak with Putin, as he did in the early days of the war, Macron replied that he would “not rule it out” but would only do so “at the opportune moment”.
Macron warned that if Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, “he would no doubt turn his attention to Moldova and perhaps beyond to Romania”.
(with AFP
