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Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed Britain’s “ironclad” support for Kyiv and repeated demands for Ukraine to be at the heart of any peace talks, as the UK prime minister prepares to meet Donald Trump next week.
On the third anniversary of the conflict on Monday, the British government will unveil the largest raft of sanctions against Russia since the early days of the war, which are expected to be closely aligned with a significant EU package.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy said the move aimed to further “turn the screws on Vladimir Putin’s Russia” to erode its military machine and reduce revenues “fuelling the fires of destruction in Ukraine”.
The fresh designations, which are expected to target Russia’s aluminium and oil exports, come as fears grow in European capitals that the US president could ease sanctions on Moscow as part of a peace deal brokered with Putin without European participation.
On Sunday, Starmer told the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow that Britain “will not be cowed by threats or tyranny”, but warned “we can’t cling to the comforts of the past” in an oblique reference to US support.
Europe must “do more” to defend itself and “take responsibility for our security”, the prime minister said, as he vowed that the UK would assume a “leading” role on this across the continent.
According to Downing Street, Starmer also spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, reiterating “the UK’s ironclad support for Ukraine” and its commitment to “securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia’s illegal war”.
The phone call occurred ahead of a crunch week of diplomacy about Ukraine’s future, as Starmer holds discussions with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
The bilateral Anglo-American talks come after Polish President Andrzej Duda met the US president on Saturday, and French President Emmanuel Macron flies into Washington for discussions on Monday.
European leaders are pursuing a blizzard of diplomacy amid ratcheting tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy. The US president called his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator”, after Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a disinformation bubble in response to his claim that Kyiv had “started” the war with Moscow.
In their latest call, Starmer and Zelenskyy discussed the need to work with allies to “achieve peace through strength”, citing a slogan closely associated with former Republican president Ronald Reagan suggesting that military power can deter conflict.
The UK prime minister reiterated his position that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war, after American and Russian negotiators kicked off talks in Riyadh this week without any representatives from Ukraine present.
Starmer also spoke with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday and “agreed that Europe must step up for the good of collective European security”, according to Number 10.
The prime minister is under pressure to set a timeline for fulfilling a manifesto commitment to boost British defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, up from its current level of 2.3 per cent — a move that would cost up to £6bn a year.
On Sunday, cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson refused to confirm speculation that Starmer will set a deadline when he meets Trump in the coming days.
James Cartlidge, Tory shadow defence secretary, suggested the government should consider reallocating funds from Whitehall to boost defence spending.
“Should we be maintaining a large civil service or switching that money to a stronger armed forces?,” he told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips show.
Britain and France have started sketching out proposals for a “reassurance force” that would rely on western air power, backed by the US, to enforce any ceasefire deal in Ukraine and deter potential Russian aggression.
Starmer has been clear that a “US backstop” would be crucial to such a plan. He will seek to persuade Trump during their face-to-face talks that safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty is essential to deter future Russian aggression.
UK defence secretary John Healey spelt out in more detail on Sunday the risks posed by any US-brokered peace deal that marginalises Kyiv.
“An insecure peace risks more war,” he wrote in The Sunday Times, adding: “We know that Ukrainians do not fear Russian aggression. The only thing Ukraine fears is western fatigue.”
