UK and France working on deal for 'lasting peace' in Ukraine - Starmer

LAST UPDATE | 22 hrs ago

THE UK AND France are working on a plan to increase security in Europe and put an end to the war in Ukraine, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

Speaking to BBC News, Starmer said he, French President Emmanuel Macron “and possibly one or two others” will work with Ukraine to put a plan in place to end the fighting and then propose the idea to the United States.

The Labour leader refuted claims by US President Donald Trump that European leaders have not pulled their weight in their support for Ukraine, and said that the aid, support, training and funding needs to be acknowledged.

He added that there is a need for a “coalition of the willing” to be established. “I think the UK and France are the most advanced in thinking on this,” he said.

It comes as EU and Nato leaders are taking part in a summit in London, hosted by Starmer, to discuss peace, security and defence for Ukraine and Europe in the future – with a focus on progressing plans to deliver a “lasting” truce in the war torn nation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stressed that any ceasefire agreement between his country and Russian President Vladimir Putin must be met with security guarantees – a demand shared by fellow European leaders.

Starmer and Zelenskyy met at No 10 Downing St yesterday where the Prime Minister insisted that Ukraine has the full support of the UK for a lasting peace and solution to end the war.

Topics discussed at that meeting and, to be debated during today’s summit, lie in stark contrast to the unprecedented scenes in the Oval Office on Friday, where US President Donald Trump argued with Zelenskyy in front of reporters.

Zelenskyy travelled to Washington D.C in hopes to sign a minerals-sharing deal with the US, which he believes is the first step towards securing a peace deal in Ukraine. However, the meeting went south after Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of not being “ready” to make a deal and not thanking the US for its support.

The Ukrainian leader later said that his country was ready to sign the minerals-sharing deal, but required security guarantees from the US to ensure Putin would be dissuade not to break any future ceasefire agreements.

Asked by journalist Laura Kuenssberg this morning about the contrast between his meeting with Trump earlier this week and Zelenskyy’s, Starmer insisted that it is “clear” that the US President wants a “lasting peace” in Ukraine.

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“It’s clear from the discussions I had with him on Thursday, quite intensive discussions. I actually met him before that back in September in New York and I spoke to him a number of times on the phone, including on Friday night and Saturday night.

“My strong view is that he (Trump) wants a lasting peace, and I agree with him on that. President Zelenskyy agrees with him on that. And I think nobody wants this conflict to go on, least of all Ukrainians. It’s not in our national interest [either].

“We’ve got to be absolutely focused on that, as we go forth,” Starmer said, adding that ceasefire deals with the US place influence on lasting peace.

He said: “You can’t have a deal that then falls apart, and that is what President Zelenskyy is worried about. He’s pretty open about that.

“There was the Minsk deal before [in 2019] that didn’t hold, so that’s why President Zelenskyy is rightly concerned if there’s to be a deal, it has to hold.”

Starmer is currently meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and is set to greet European leaders, including Macron, later today.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa will also be present at the summit today. Many European leaders are repeating the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, ahead of the meeting.

The summit is due to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s current position, through measures such as supporting its military and imposing increasing sanctions on Russia. 

Leaders are set to agree to aim to secure a peace deal that delivers a permanent end to the war in Ukraine, and deter and defend the country against a future Russian attack. Lastly, the group will discuss the next steps on security guarantees.

Meanwhile, the UK signed off on a €2.6bn (£2.26bn) loan for military spending in Ukraine ahead of a leaders’ summit taking place in London today.

The loan hopes to “bolster Ukrainian military capability”, a statement said, and will be paid back using profits generated on sanction Russian assets which have been frozen within the UK and EU since the beginning of the invasion.

An agreement was signed between both finance ministers last night through the G7 loan scheme for Ukraine.

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