I'll back Ukraine in talks with Trump, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer will discuss the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty in talks with Donald Trump next week, he said in a call with the country's president
Sir Keir Starmer will discuss the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty in talks with Donald Trump next week, he said in a call with the country's presidentThe UK prime minister reiterated the UK's "ironclad support" for Kyiv when he spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.
The two leaders held their second telephone conversation in four days following US President Trump's decision to re-open relations with Russia and seek an end to the war in Ukraine.
Monday marks three years since Vladimir Putin's invasion, which UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he will mark with further sanctions on Russia On Saturday, 2,000 people marched to the Russian embassy in west London , i n support of Ukraine ahead of the anniversary of the invasion.
According to a Downing Street spokesperson the prime minister also said "Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war" and it could be sure of "the UK's commitment to securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia's illegal war".
Giving details about the phone call, Downing Street said Sir Keir and Zelensky "agreed that this was a significant moment for the future of Ukraine and European security at large".The UK will continue to work with the US and Europe to achieve "sustainable, just peace," he added.
Sir Keir's meeting with Trump on Thursday in Washington DC comes after a week which saw a flurry of summits and phone calls as European leaders scrambled to work out how to approach the US president's sudden thawing of relations with Russia.Ahead of visits to the White House by
He added: "I'm proud of UK leadership and UK unity on Ukraine."Last Monday, European leaders held a hastily-arranged summit in Paris - a day before US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, and amid fears that Ukraine and Europe could be excluded from peace negotiations.
On Tuesday, Trump called Zelensky a "dictator" and said he should "never have started" the war, despite Russia invading Ukraine.Zelensky responded by saying the US president was "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia.
