Mandelson’s push for Ukraine to declare ceasefire first is not official UK policy ...Middle East

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has slapped down Lord Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador in Washington, for saying Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and “defy the Russians to follow”.

Asked if this was Government policy, Pollard told Sky News: “No”.

Lord Mandelson made the claim during an interview on US television, before reports emerged that Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have proposed a one-month ceasefire that would not cover ground fighting.

It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated he was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US after Starmer hosted a summit of European leaders in London.

Asked if he was aware of proposals by Starmer and Macron for a one-month truce by sea and air, he told reporters: “I’m aware of everything”.

Speaking at Stansted Airport before leaving the UK last night, the Ukrainian President again said he is “exchangeable” for Ukrainian membership of Nato.

Proceeds from sale of Chelsea Football Club ‘still locked up’ – legal expert

Lyra Nightingale, a legal adviser at Redress, an organisation focused on delivering justice and reparations for survivors of torture and challenging impunity for perpetrators, has said the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club are “still locked up” three years on, despite it being “expressly committed to humanitarian purposes in Ukraine”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Nightingale said: “Around three years ago now [Roman] Abramovich … was being subject to these Russian sanctions that we’ve been talking about, and he was granted a licence to sell Chelsea Football Club.

“The proceeds of that were to go for the benefit of Ukraine.”

Asked if the money had gone to Ukraine, she responded: “No. So three years later we’re still waiting.

“And there is no clear reason from the Government as to why that is so. (It’s) still locked up. That money has been expressly committed to humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.

“We don’t know why it’s stuck. There’s a real lack of transparency and over three years of campaigning for that money to go where the Government said it would go, that has still not happened.”

Minister dismisses claims one-month Ukraine truce agreed by France and UK

A UK minister said he does not recognise claims a one-month truce plan for Ukraine has been agreed by France and Britain after Emmanuel Macron was reported to have said such a plan had been proposed by the two countries.

Asked about the report in French newspaper Le Figaro, armed forces minister Luke Pollard told Times Radio: “No agreement has been made on what a truce looks like, and so I don’t recognise the precise part you mentioned there.

“But we are working together with France and our European allies to look at what is the path to how… we create a lasting and durable peace in Ukraine.”

Pressed again on whether the UK and France had presented the summit on Sunday with a plan for a month-long ceasefire, he said: “You wouldn’t expect me to get into the details of what that plan looks like, because at the moment, the only person that would benefit from those details being put in the public domain before any plan is agreed would be President Putin.”

Tens of billions in frozen Russian assets in UK, says legal expert

Lyra Nightingale, a legal adviser at Redress, an organisation focused on delivering justice and reparations for survivors of torture and challenging impunity for perpetrators, has claimed tens of billions of pounds of frozen Russian assets are here in the UK.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Nightingale said: “There’s two different types of frozen money here in the UK.

“One pot belongs to Russia the state, so the Russian central bank assets. And we know that globally there’s around £300-320bn in allied countries and around £25bn of that we believe is here in the UK.

“And then there’s also those private oligarch assets that have been frozen under these very sweeping Russia sanctions and we think there’s about £56bn of those assets also here in the UK.”

Asked what is stopping the UK from accessing the private assets, Ms Nightingale explained: “There are human rights concerns around taking that money outright.

“Although something that has been considered is whether we can use the proceeds of enforcing those sanctions so the profits from enforcing sanctions violations – around £50m last year – to be used for Ukraine.

“At the moment that is going back to the UK Government. So the UK Government generated around £50m in enforcement proceedings last year and generally that is split between the Home Office and its operational partners.”

Government minister slaps down Mandelson over Ukraine ceasefire

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has slapped down Lord Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador in Washington, for saying Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and “defy the Russians to follow”.

Asked if this was government policy, Pollard said “no” when asked on Sky News.

Mandelson made the claim during an interview on US television, before reports emerged that Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have proposed a one-month ceasefire that would not cover ground fighting.

Pollard also said “military deployments are possible” but a US backstop to any peace deal is required when asked whether British peacekeeping troops were promised to Ukraine with or without an American guarantee.

Asked whether UK forces were guaranteed to Kyiv even if Washington does not commit to a backstop, he told Times Radio: “At the moment, we’ve pledged that the UK will step up as part of that multinational effort.”

Government minister slaps down Mandelson over Ukraine ceasefire

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has slapped down Lord Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador in Washington, for saying Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and “defy the Russians to follow”.

Asked if this was Government policy, Mr Pollard said “no” when asked on Sky News.

Lord Mandelson made the claim during an interview on US television, before reports emerged that Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have proposed a one-month ceasefire that would not cover ground fighting.

Mr Pollard also said “military deployments are possible” but a US backstop to any peace deal is required when asked whether British peacekeeping troops were promised to Ukraine with or without an American guarantee.

Asked whether UK forces were guaranteed to Kyiv even if Washington does not commit to a backstop, he told Times Radio: “At the moment, we’ve pledged that the UK will step up as part of that multinational effort.”

Zelensky ready to sign Ukraine minerals deal with US

Good morning, and welcome to The i Paper’s live politics blog. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country is ready to sign a deal with the US over access to rare minerals.

At a press conference last night after meeting the King, he told reporters Ukraine was “ready to sign it”, when asked about the rare earth deal with Washington.

The deal was put on hold after his stormy meeting with Donald Trump on Friday which saw him thrown out of the Oval Office.

Zelensky said: “It is our policy to continue what happened in the past, we’re constructive.

“If we agreed to sign the minerals deal, we’re ready to sign it. The agreement that’s on the table will be signed if the parties are ready.”

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