Starmer: UK will ‘never let up’ on support for Ukraine
Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Ukraine comes ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration and a potential push for a peace deal to end the war with Russia.
Ukraine must be put in the “strongest possible position” in 2025, Sir Keir Starmer said as he made his first trip to Kyiv as Prime Minister.
The visit comes just days before Donald Trump enters the White House, potentially signalling a shift in US support for Ukraine’s war effort in favour of a push for a peace deal.
In a sign of the dangers facing Ukrainians on a daily basis, reports from Kyiv indicated a Russian drone flying over the city shortly after Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelensky laid flowers at a site of remembrance for those killed since the 2022 invasion.
The Kyiv Independent reported explosions were heard during an air raid alert.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman in Westminster could not respond to the reports but said: “Russian attacks on Kyiv are, unfortunately, a daily reality for citizens in Ukraine, it’s why they need our ongoing support.”
The Prime Minister said the UK would “never let up” on support for Kyiv, with a new 100 Year Partnership deal set to cement ties with Ukraine.
Sir Keir said he would discuss what further support he could offer to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during the visit.
Speaking to broadcasters at a hospital in Kyiv, he said: “It’s very important we ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
“That’s something I’ve been arguing for since I was Prime Minister. This is my seventh meeting with President Zelensky. I’m here at the burns unit of one of the Kyiv hospitals, which is a grim reminder of the heavy price Ukraine is paying.
“So we must give the necessary support, and that’s what I’m discussing with President Zelensky today. We must never let up on that and we’ve been leading the way.”
Mr Trump’s pick for secretary of state Marco Rubio suggested on Wednesday that both Ukraine and Russia would have to make concessions to end the war.
He said it was important to be “realistic” that “there will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians”.
Sir Keir’s desire to “make sure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position during 2025″ is an indication of the West’s attempt to ensure Kyiv goes into any talks on the front foot.
Ahead of the visit, Mr Zelensky had suggested he would use the meeting to discuss the prospect of British troops being deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers following any ceasefire deal with the Kremlin.
Sir Keir said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war had been a failure, and “one of the consequences of this conflict has been to draw Nato more strongly together”.
“It’s bigger and stronger than it has been, and we must stand behind Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“But when we say Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position, that can’t be just words.
“And that’s why I’ve had such intense discussions with President Zelensky over the months that I’ve been Prime Minister and will again here in Ukraine. Because that is very, very important as we go into 2025.”
The UK-Ukraine partnership deal will set out co-operation between the countries in an agreement stretching well into the next century.
The agreement will bolster military collaboration on maritime security through a new framework covering the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Azov Sea to deter Russian aggression.
The partnership, formed of a treaty and a political declaration, will be laid in Parliament in the coming weeks and spans nine key pillars.
It will involve co-operation in areas including healthcare and tackling disease, agricultural technology and the space industry.
Ties between the two countries will also be strengthened through cultural exchanges and classroom projects.
Sir Keir said: “Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure.
“Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”
