'Viable chance' of ceasefire in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer says
Donald Trump’s interventions over the Ukraine war have created a “viable” chance of a ceasefire but the UK stands ready to “increase pressure” on Russia if necessary, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
In a call with allies yesterday, the Prime Minister said the meeting expected between the US President and Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “hugely important” but any deal must protect Kyiv’s “territorial integrity”.
It comes amid concerns about the prospect of Ukraine being sidelined in talks about its future after Mr Trump suggested any truce would involve some “swapping” of land.
Leaders including Sir Keir and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky held virtual talks with the US president earlier yesterday as Europe braces for the outcome of his face-to-face discussions with Mr Putin in Alaska tomorrow.
Co-chairing a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” – a European-led effort to prepare a peacekeeping force to monitor any potential ceasefire in Ukraine – Sir Keir said: “This meeting on Friday that President Trump is attending is hugely important.
“As I’ve said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven’t got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.
“And now we do have that chance, because of the work of that the president has put in.”
Sir Keir said any ceasefire must sit alongside “robust” security guarantees and said further sanctions could be imposed on Russia should it fail to engage.
“We’re ready to support this, including from the plans we’ve already drawn up to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased,” he said.
“It is important to remind colleagues that we do stand ready also to increase pressure on Russia, particularly the economy, with sanctions and wider measures as may be necessary.”
He added: “We in the UK are preparing our next package of sanctions in that regard.”
Downing Street said that during the call Sir Keir made clear that “international borders must not be changed by force”.
“The Prime Minister was clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering,” a spokesman said.
“International borders must not be changed by force and Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.”
They added that Sir Keir and other leaders would speak to Mr Trump following the meeting with Mr Putin in Alaska.
The Prime Minister’s comments come after Mr Trump signalled he thinks Ukraine might need to cede territory in order to end the conflict, earlier in the week.
Mr Trump pledged to “try to get back” some of Ukraine’s “oceanfront property” from Russia.
He said: “We’re going to change the lines, the battle lines. Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory. We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine.
“They have taken largely – in real estate we call it oceanfront property. That’s always the most valuable property.”
While retired senior British Army officer, General Sir Richard Shirreff said the UK should be pushing for Ukraine to join Nato.
He told the Today Programme: “Deep in Russian DNA is that sense that Ukraine cannot be a sovereign state, and Russia cannot be the state it is without Ukraine as a part of it.
“We have to recognise that European security means a band of deterrent steel from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with Ukraine as a Nato member.
“Now however far-fetched that may seem from where we are at the moment, that’s the reality.
“Any sort of compromise now, any sort of freezing of the conflict is only going to continue to postpone it.”