Putin will have to 'come to table,' says Starmer as talks on Ukraine peacekeeping force begin

LAST UPDATE | 5 hrs ago

UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer said today Russian President Vladimir Putin would “sooner or later” have to “come to the table” as he opened a virtual summit to drum up support for a coalition willing to protect any eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

Starmer also accused Putin of trying to delay the implementation of a ceasefire agreement. 

“The world needs action. My message is very clear: Putin will have to come to the table, so this is the moment, let the guns fall silent, let the barbaric attacks on Ukraine stop once and for all,” he said.”We won’t sit back and wait for Putin to act.”

European militaries are to meet Thursday in the UK as discussions move towards an operational phase, he told the media following the meeting.

Starmer told some 25 fellow leaders, which he said originate from all across the world, as they joined a virtual call hosted by Downing Street that they should focus on how to strengthen Ukraine, protect any ceasefire and keep up the pressure on Moscow.

The joint Ukrainian-US peace plan envisages a 30-day interim ceasefire in the three-year conflict that could be extended by mutual agreement.

Starmer has said Vladimir Putin will “sooner or later” have to “come to the table” as he urged world leaders to keep up the pressure on Russia for an unconditional ceasefire.

While Ukraine had shown it was the “party of peace” by agreeing to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, “Putin is the one trying to delay,” he said.

“If Putin is serious about peace, I think it’s very simple, he has to stop his barbaric attacks on Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire, and the world is watching,” he added.

Overnight fighting continued in the relentless three-year war, with Russia saying it had taken two more villages in its Kursk border region where it has launched an offensive to wrest back seized territory.

As moves have gathered pace for a ceasefire, Moscow has pushed this week to retake a large part of the land that Ukraine originally captured in western Kursk.

The Russian defence ministry said troops took control over the villages of Zaoleshenka and Rubanshchina – north and west of the town of Sudzha, the main town that Moscow reclaimed this week.

Kyiv meanwhile said its air force had overnight downed 130 Iranian-made Russian-launched Shahed drones over 14 regions of the country.

Putin has called on embattled Ukrainian troops in Kursk to “surrender”, while his US counterpart Donald Trump urged the Kremlin to spare their lives.

“We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal,” Starmer said in comments released by Downing Street late Friday, ahead of today’s call.

He warned overnight that he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “not serious about peace”, but the US president has sounded a different note.

Trump has claimed he has been “getting pretty good vibes” from Russia on the prospect of a ceasefire in Ukraine.

He told the Full Measure television programme that he thinks Putin is “going to agree” to the terms.

“I really do. I think I know him pretty well and I think he’s going to agree,” Trump said.

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Trump also said he was “being a little bit sarcastic” when he repeatedly claimed as a presidential candidate that he would have the Russia-Ukraine war solved within 24 hours of taking office, or even before he was sworn in.

He is still trying to broker an agreement more than 50 days into his second term.

“What I really mean is I’d like to get it settled,” Trump said, “and I think I’ll be successful.”

In remarks yesterday on social media, he also said he had asked Moscow not to kill Ukrainian soldiers that both he and Putin have claimed are “surrounded” in Russia’s Kursk region.

The Ukrainian armed forces have firmly denied that their troops have been encircled in Kursk, where Kyiv staged an incursion last year in a bid to secure a bargaining chip for possible talks and change the dynamic of the conflict.

Coalition of the willing

Starmer will host further talks on a peacekeeping force for Ukraine today after warning Vladimir Putin not to play games with a proposed ceasefire.

The UK leader and French President Emmanuel Macron have been leading efforts to assemble a so-called “coalition of the willing” ever since Trump opened direct negotiations with Moscow last month.

Starmer is expected to hold a video call with as many as 25 potential members of the “coalition of the willing”, nations that could take part in any peacekeeping operation.

After speaking to Macron and Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store on Friday afternoon, Starmer warned: “We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal.

“The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.”

Starmer added that if Russia does not ensure it’s willing to obey peace terms, then other nations would “need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia” to secure an end to the war.

Today’s call comes as Russia continues to resist proposals for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire put forward by Ukraine and the US earlier in the week.

Putin’s demands

While Putin has described the principle of a ceasefire as “correct”, he has insisted that it must come with a promise from Ukraine to abandon attempts to join Nato and give up control of regions seized by Russia.

Keir added: “Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place, but the world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions.

“My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now. Until then we will keep working around the clock to deliver peace.”

During today’s call, leaders will receive updates from countries on the aid they could provide towards enforcing the peace.

The virtual gathering follows a week in which a diplomatic blitz saw Ukraine agree to the US’s peace plan, and US officials flew to Moscow in an effort to persuade the Kremlin to lay down arms.

G7 allies are united in calling for a ceasefire with “no conditions” to halt the fighting in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said, in a bid to pile pressure on the Putin regime.

However, while a joint statement by G7 foreign ministers on Friday “reaffirmed” support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, and emphasised the need for security guarantees, it stopped short of condemning Russia’s invasion or attributing acts of “aggression” to Moscow.

With reporting by PA, AFP & Emma Hickey

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