British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will use 1.6 billion pounds in export financing to supply 5,000 air defence missiles for Ukraine, as he wrapped up a security summit in London with other European and world leaders on Sunday, including Spain’s Pedro Sánchez.
He also said that Europe had to do the heavy lifting in defending itself.
The meeting came two days after US support for Ukraine appeared in greater jeopardy, after President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, saying that he wasn’t grateful enough for US support.
Starmer told leaders gathered on Sunday that they need to step up and continue to support Kyiv and meet a ‘once in a generation moment’ for the security of Europe.
‘Even while Russia talks about peace, they are continuing their relentless aggression,’ Starmer said at the opening of the meeting.
Flanked by Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron, Starmer said the three of them had agreed to work on a plan to stop the fighting, and take that to the US, which has discussed brokering a peace deal.
‘We need to agree what steps come out of this meeting to deliver peace through strength for the benefit of all,’ he said. ‘So, let’s get started.’
The meeting had been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding of Zelenskyy by Trump, who blasted him on Friday in the Oval Office as being ungrateful for US support against the invasion by Russia.
Starmer, however, said he was focused on being a bridge to restore peace talks, whose collapse he used as an opportunity to re-engage with Trump, Zelensky and Macron rather than ‘ramp up the rhetoric’.
Sunday’s summit included talks on establishing a European military force to be sent to Ukraine to underpin a ceasefire. Starmer said it would involve ‘a coalition of the willing’.
Starmer told the BBC he does not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin but does trust Trump. ‘Do I believe Donald Trump when he says he wants lasting peace? The answer to that is yes,’ he said.
Starmer said there are ‘intense discussions’ to get a security guarantee from the US.
‘If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause and then Putin comes again,’ Starmer said. ‘That has happened in the past, I think it is a real risk, and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it is a lasting deal, not a temporary pause.’
The three essentials Starmer listed for a successful peace deal were: arming the Ukrainians to put them in a position of strength; including a European element to guarantee security; and providing a ‘US backstop’, to prevent Putin from breaking promises.
‘That’s the package. All three parts need to be in place, and that’s what I’m working hard to bring together,’ Starmer said.
Starmer hosted the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace, following a charm offensive last week to persuade Trump to put Ukraine at the centre of negotiations and tilt his allegiances toward Europe.
Leaders from Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania were at the summit. The Turkish foreign minister, NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council were also in attendance.
En Londres, para seguir trabajando con nuestros aliados en la construcción de la paz justa y duradera que Ucrania necesita.
España hará todo lo que esté en su mano para lograr este objetivo y garantizar la seguridad y libertad de Europa. pic.twitter.com/jV0UVdkC3g
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) March 2, 2025
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