Sir Keir Starmer and European allies rallied around Ukraine and attempted to respond to Donald Trump’s concerns over the war with Russia after reports of a White House slanging match between the President and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Prime Minister called another meeting of the “coalition of the willing” of European backers of Ukraine on Friday after Trump refused to supply Tomahawk missiles and pressured Zelensky to accept Moscow’s demands.
Starmer said he would be “resolute” in support for Ukraine and in pointed comments said: “Tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.”
He suggested the coalition would discuss fresh measures to “cripple Putin’s war machine” in Friday’s call, with Zelensky in attendance.
But it came as Trump cast fresh doubt on his support for Zelensky, saying he did not think Ukraine could win its war against Russia.
It came after the Financial Times reported that Trump and Zelensky ended up in a shouting match on Friday where the Ukrainian leader was warned by Trump that Vladimir Putin would “destroy” his country unless it handed over the Donbas region to Moscow, crossing a red line.
Trump in public modified his position to suggest the conflict could be frozen along current frontlines, which prompted Zelensky to insist the meeting had actually been “positive”.
But the US President later on Monday appeared to cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to resist the Russian invasion, telling reporters: “I don’t think they will, but they could still win it, I never said they would win it.
“I said they could win, anything can happen. War is a very strange thing, a lot of bad things happen.”
Starmer and European leaders had harboured hopes that Trump has shifted towards stronger backing for Ukraine in recent months after his failed attempts to strike a peace deal with Putin in Alaska.
But those hopes have been somewhat dashed over the weekend after Trump appeared to move back towards Russia following a call with Putin last week that has paved the way for another summit between the pair in Hungary in the next few weeks.
‘Ukraine’s future is our future’
Starmer said on Monday: “We must be resolute in our support for Ukraine, and I’m committed to intensifying our efforts to cripple Putin’s war machine Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace.
“We can all see that Putin is not and he continues to choose violence and destruction.
“Tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.
“We must ramp up the pressure on his economy and defence industry, as we did last week with a major package of sanctions until he’s ready to make peace.
“As winter approaches, we’ll continue to step up our support, humanitarian, financial and military so Ukraine can defend its people and its sovereignty.
“We cannot lose sight of the fact that Ukraine’s future is our future, and the next few days and weeks will be pivotal for the future of European security.”
‘Pivotal’ moment for Europe
Starmer added it was a “pivotal” moment “for the future of European security” as allies scrambled to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to make concessions.
The coalition of the willing is expected on Friday to discuss fresh moves to use seized Russian assets to help Ukraine following pressure from Trump.
The EU also agreed to gradually end Russian gas imports by 2028 after Trump suggested he could step up US sanctions on Moscow if Europe took a stronger approach.
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Defence Secretary John Healey meanwhile used a speech at Mansion House to show a fresh demonstration of European willingness to provide security for Ukraine after a peace deal, saying he was “accelerating millions of pounds of funding to prepare for any possible deployment into Ukraine” of British forces.
Healey also announced a “new deal for European security” including joint operations and standards, combined force deployments, and stronger alliances, building on the £10bn deal for the UK to build warships for Norway.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend the meeting of Ukraine’s allies known as the “coalition of the willing” in London on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
“This Friday, we will have a meeting of the coalition of the willing – partly virtual and partly in-person – in London, and President Zelenskiy will be there,” Macron said.
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