Starmer says UK and France will work with Kyiv to present peace plan to Washington
Starmer said that after discussions with Zelenskyy and Macron that there has been an agreement made that the UK, along with France, and “possibly one or two others” will work with Kyiv to stop the war. He said this agreed peace plan will be presented to the US. “I think we’ve got a step in the right direction”, Starmer told Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC.
“We have 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.
“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.”
Key events
Kremlin says Russia’s and US foreign policies are in alignment
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said the “foreign policy” of Washington and Moscow is broadly aligned now Donald Trump is in office.
“The new (US) administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” Peskov said, according to a post by state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin on Sunday on the Telegram channel.
The Kremlin’s comments come after Trump seemed to blame Kyiv for Moscow’s full-scale invasion, claiming Ukraine could have “made a deal” to avert war, and after the US last week pushed through a UN security council resolution on the war that included no criticism of Russia.
Trump, who has called Zelenskyy, the democratically elected Ukraine leader a “dictator”, without evidence, has quickly moved to direct talks with Russia that have sidelined Ukraine and alarmed European allies.
Trump officials fume at Zelenskyy for disregarding advice before meeting
Hugo Lowell
Hugo Lowell is a reporter in the Washington bureau of the Guardian covering Donald Trump and the Justice Department
Inside the Trump White House, officials blamed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the meltdown in the Oval Office on Friday, and expressed frustration that he pushed for security guarantees even though the US had made clear they wanted to negotiate that later, according to people familiar with the matter.
The officials had told their Ukrainian counterparts in advance of the meeting that Trump wanted to sign an economic partnership this week at a ministerial level, as aides worked on the details about security guarantees.
Trump saw the minerals deal as the first phase of a broader economic partnership and told aides it showed the US was effectively making a commitment on security guarantees, because the agreement deal would mean the US had a vested interest in Ukraine’s economic prosperity.
The officials believed that had all been communicated to Ukraine, as was the advice that senators gave Zelenskyy on Friday morning to praise Trump and not litigate the issue of wanting stronger security guarantees to his face.
To Trump’s aides, Zelenskyy did not heed that advice when he expressed skepticism at JD Vance’s view of making peace with Russia and, in their view, lectured the US vice-president on the history of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine that started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea.
Russia continues deadly attacks on Ukraine as European leaders meet for crucial defence summit
As diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war ramp up, Russia continues to attack Ukrainian cities.
Russian shelling overnight killed one person and injured two more in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk and Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 79 drones, according to officials.
“Kramatorsk was subjected to hostile shelling – residential district,” city mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko said. “A boy born in 2006 was killed, “ he wrote on Telegram, adding that a man and a woman were also injured.
Ukraine’s air defence units destroyed 63 of the 79 Russian drones that attacked overnight in several Ukrainian regions, the country’s air force said.
A Russian drone attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia in southwestern Ukraine injured one civilian, the governor of the broader Zaporizhzhia region, of which the city is the administrative centre, said.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has said attacks on Ukraine will continue until a deal to stop the fighting is secured that is acceptable to Moscow.
Polish PM to urge European leaders to increase military presence on Nato’s eastern flank
Jakub Krupa
As a reminder, British prime minister Keir Starmer is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a crucial summit of European leaders later today. Among the attendees to the summit will be Polish prime minister Donald Tusk who has long been urging European countries to step up defence investment.
Our Europe live blogger, Jakub Krupa, has some quotes from Tusk given before he departed for London:
Speaking before his departure for London, Tusk said that “it has to be clear that … Poland is on the side of Ukraine, without any buts,” saying this was in Poland’s national interest.
Tusk also pointedly said that Europe should still work on “the closest possible alliance” with the US, even if the US administration’s position is “not as straightforward as ours” on the Ukraine-Russia war.
He then went on to talk about Europe’s military awakening, calling for increased defence spending as “an additional insurance policy,” while insisting that “being self-reliant does not mean being by itself”.
“A Europe that understands its global potential, its status as a superpower, will not be an alternative to the US, but the most wanted ally. In the end, that’s what Trump wants, for Europe to take much greater responsibility for its security,” he said.
“It’s a paradox, someone rightly pointed this out, that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them from 140 millions Russians,” he said.
He then extensively quoted data from the latest report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, showing the military advantage of Europe and Ukraine over Russia.
He also said that he would support Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to call an emergency EU-US summit, and urge partners to increase military presence on the eastern flank of Nato, including in Finland, the Baltics, and in Poland.
Badenoch says UK should be helping to ‘negotiate a peace settlement not a surrender’
Badenoch says the UK should be helping to negotiate “a “peace settlement” not a “surrender”.
“We need to make sure that president Zelenskyy feels that he has autonomy. They are a sovereign country and the principles that we are defending are the freedom of Ukraine and sovereignty,” she told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, adding that it is critical Kyiv is at the table for any so-called peace talks.
Kemi Badenoch said she does not agree that the Oval Office clash was part of an orchestrated “ambush”, as some had suggested, as both Kyiv and Washington were representing their “respective national interests”.
Kemi Badenoch says her ‘heart went out’ to Zelenskyy during clash with Trump
The leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, says there is no difference between Labour and Conservative in terms of British support for Ukraine. When asked about the furious exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House, the Conservative party leader said her “heart went out” to the Ukrainian president while she was watching it.
She told the BBC:
I couldn’t believe what was happening. He was being humiliated. I don’t think we should conduct these sort of difficult conservations in front of the cameras and we have to remember that President Zelenskyy is a hero.
He is the person who represents that strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people and whatever difference and difficulties we might have during negotiations we need to be able to set them aside when everyone is watching because the only person who would have liked that wild have been Vladimir Putin.
Starmer says he does not ‘trust’ Putin who he warns will ‘come again’ if given the opportunity
Starmer says he does not “trust” Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian president would “come again” if given the chance. Hence the critical need for “security guarantees”, the UK prime minister said.
Starmer said he does, on the other hand, trust Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. He was asked in the BBC interview if Zelenskyy has “done anything wrong” and Starmer said he hadn’t, adding that the Ukrainian president has bravely served his country as a wartime leader since Russia’s full-scale invasion was launched in February 2022. Starmer says this is a real “moment of fragility” in Europe.
US security guarantee for Ukraine is the subject of ‘intense’ discussion – Starmer
Starmer says he thinks Trump wants to see a lasting peace in Ukraine despite his rhetoric and attitude towards Zelenskyy. “Everybody agrees with that apart from Putin,” he told the BBC. By “lasting peace”, Starmer means a “US backstop”, along with “security guarantees” provided by European countries and a “strong Ukraine” armed with defensive capabilities to resist the Russian invasion.
The security guarantee from the Americans is the subject of “intense” discussion, Starmer said.
He explained:
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 that’s why I’ve been forward-leaning on this about what we would do; and a US backstop.
That’s the package, all three parts need to be in place, and that’s what I’m working hard to bring together.
As the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, notes, Starmer acknowledges that Trump has not committed to a US backstop security guarantee for a European force in Ukraine but says the US and UK are having continuing talks over it.
Starmer says UK and France will work with Kyiv to present peace plan to Washington
Starmer said that after discussions with Zelenskyy and Macron that there has been an agreement made that the UK, along with France, and “possibly one or two others” will work with Kyiv to stop the war. He said this agreed peace plan will be presented to the US. “I think we’ve got a step in the right direction”, Starmer told Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC.
“We have 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.
“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 says the worst of all outcomes is for Russia to break the terms of an agreed ceasefire deal.
I am clear about is that if there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause, and then Putin comes again.
That has happened in the past. I think it is a real risk, and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it’s a lasting deal, not a temporary pause.
Starmer says he felt ‘uncomfortable’ watching Zelenskyy-Trump argument at White House
Keir Starmer has been asked on the BBC about the furious exchange between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the White House last week. He admitted that he “felt uncomfortable” watching the argument.
The British prime minister insists the focus has to be a “lasting peace” in Ukraine, which he says is essential for the security of Europe.
When asked about the exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy, he said “nobody wants to see that” and said that he spoke to Trump and Zelenskyy on the phone after the heated exchange.
He would not be drawn on specifics but said the purpose has been to “bridge” tensions to get everyone back to the “central focus” of supporting Ukraine to “stop the fighting” in the long term.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party, has written in The Telegraph to call for an increase to defence spending among Nato countries. She welcomed Keir Starmer’s plans to increase domestic defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2027 but said “that step cannot be the final one”. Starmer said the rise from the current 2.3% means £13.4bn more will be spent annually on defence after 2027. It will be paid for by cuts to to foreign aid.
In making his surprise announcement last week, the British prime minister said he wanted defence spending to rise to 3% of GDP in the next parliament, but this would only be guaranteed if his Labour party won the next general election, set for 2029.
Here is an extract from Badenoch’s opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph:
The exchanges in the White House on Friday are not where that conversation ends. We have honest differences with the Trump administration, which must be resolved.
Because there can be no doubt that we are today living through the most dangerous times we have seen since the worst moments of the Cold War, such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Then, the US and the Soviet Union were on the brink of direct military confrontation. What was the lesson there? In the face of implacable US determination, the Russians backed down. Russia respects only hard force and willpower.
That is why the UK must lead by example. We Europeans must prepare for the worst. Our motto must be peace through strength. It is now abundantly clear all Nato allies must rapidly increase their defence spending.
The UK should commit to raising defence spending to 3% of GDP by the end of this Parliament. The prime minister will have our support in taking the difficult decisions required to make this happen.
More than a dozen world leaders are set to gather in London today to discuss joint plans on defence and security as US military support for Ukraine hangs in the balance after talks over a minerals deal collapsed last week.
European leaders are seeking security guarantees – such as air cover – from Washington as part of any so-called peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Keir Starmer, having announced the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war last week, will be trying to persuade other European countries to increase their defence capabilities and spending so the continent is better prepared to face the threat from Russia without the usual safety net of US support.
Starmer will shortly be on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, which starts at 9am, along with Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition.
The British prime minister met Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday evening, in what was described by Downing Street as a “warm and meaningful” exchange.
On Saturday night, a No 10 spokesperson said:
The prime minister reiterated his unwavering support for Ukraine, adding that the UK will always stand with them, for as long as it takes.
The prime minister restated his determination to finding a path that ends Russia’s illegal war and ensures a just and lasting peace that secures Ukraine’s future sovereignty and security.
The leaders looked forward to continuing these discussions at tomorrow’s leaders’ summit in London.
Keir Starmer to host special defence summit on Ukrainian defence and security
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine war, with leaders from around Europe gathering at a special defence summit in London on Sunday to discuss the crisis.
The meeting has taken on new importance after talks broke down between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US president Donald Trump in a tense showdown at the White House on Friday.
The unprecedented events in Washington have put the pressure on Europe to find new ways to defend its war-torn ally and shore up the continent’s defences.
Led by the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, the summit brings together leaders from around continental Europe, including France, Germany, Denmark and Italy as well as Turkey, Nato and the EU.
“Now is the time for us to unite in order to guarantee the best outcome for Ukraine, protect European security and secure our collective future,” Starmer said ahead of the summit.
Downing Street said the summit would again stress the need for a “strong, lasting deal that delivers a permanent peace” and discuss “next steps on planning for strong security guarantees”.
Zelenskyy will also meet King Charles at Sandringham on Sunday. Meanwhile, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will sign a £2.3bn loan deal to allow Kyiv to buy more weapons, to be paid back using profits generated on Russian sovereign assets that are under sanctions.
