Military chiefs from around 30 countries will meet in the UK on Thursday to plan for an international peacekeeping force, as a partial ceasefire was agreed between Kyiv and Moscow on Wednesday afternoon.
Keir Starmer’s official spokesman also criticised Vladimir Putin for failing to agree to an immediate unconditional 30-day ceasefire, in the Russian president’s lengthy phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“We are preparing for all eventual scenarios. We are continuing to support Ukraine militarily, and will continue to do so, but we are also planning for the event of a peace deal and what would be needed to ensure that any peace deal is secure and lasting.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron during a summit on the situation in Ukraine at Lancaster House in London (Photo: Justin Tallis/PA)As the US president has tried to get Putin to come to the negotiating table – and even discussed economic deals and ice hockey with the Russian leader – the UK strategy has been to build support for Starmer’s “coalition of the willing” which is as much about supporting Ukraine as it is trying to put together a peacekeeping force.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky must be able to count on a strong, united alliance of European Nato countries as a long-lasting bulwark against Moscow, a source said, but this did not mean clashing with Trump over tactics.
Yet since that clash, Starmer has held talks by phone with Trump on four occasions, while at the same time building up support for the coalition of the willing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) listens as the Finnish President addresses their joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki (Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva /AFP)In a sign of the delicate balancing act the UK is currently trying to perform, the spokesman added: “We obviously welcome President Trump’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in this space, but it is also disappointing that Putin has not agreed to a full-on, immediate ceasefire without conditions, as Ukraine has done.”
The limited ceasefire had been proposed during the call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday.
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Trump and Putin’s call showed peace in Ukraine is still a long way off
Read MoreKallas also had talks with Defence Secretary John Healey on Tuesday. Healey said after the meeting: “This is a time when the demands of the moment mean European partners must come together, recognising Nato as a cornerstone of European security, but we need to do more.
Healey said UK and European defence industries “needed to innovate at a wartime pace”.
He added: “On Ukraine now is almost the time when we must maintain our strong support for Ukraine, we must not jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war, and we will together reinforce our efforts to secure that peace.”
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