UK, US and allies ‘calling Putin out’ as they intensify calls for ceasefire
The Prime Minister and his Ukrainian, French, German and Polish counterparts spoke to Donald Trump on Saturday.
Sir Keir Starmer has said that European allies “together with the US” are “calling Putin out”, as the pressure increases on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire.
Speaking from Kyiv, the Prime Minister said that allies will “ramp up sanctions” if Russian president Vladimir Putin “turns his back on peace”, as he and allies backed plans for a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and his Ukrainian, French, German and Polish counterparts spoke to US President Donald Trump on Saturday to update him on progress towards a peace deal.
It comes after Mr Trump promised “further sanctions” from the US and “partners” if any ceasefire is struck and then not respected.
Speaking from Kyiv, he said the five leaders in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday had agreed on the need for an “unconditional ceasefire”.
Sir Keir said “all of us here, together with US, are calling Putin out”.
He said that if the Russian president is “serious” about peace then “he has a chance to show it now by extending the VE Day pause into a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire”.
Sir Keir added: “No more ifs and buts, no more conditions and delays.”
He also said: “Ukraine has shown the willingness to engage again and again, but again and again, Putin has refused.
“So we are clear, all five leaders here – all the leaders of the meeting we just had with the coalition of the willing – an unconditional ceasefire, rejecting Putin’s conditions, and clear that if he turns his back on peace, we will respond.
“Working with President Trump, with all our partners, we will ramp up sanctions and increase our military aid for Ukraine’s defence to pressure Russia back to the table.”
It comes after Mr Trump called for “ideally a 30-day unconditional ceasefire”.
In a post on his Truth Socal platform on Thursday, he said that “if the ceasefire is not respected, the U.S. and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
He added: “As President, I will stay committed to securing Peace between Russia and Ukraine, together with the Europeans, and a Lasting Peace it will be!”
Sir Keir has been in the Ukrainian capital with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for further talks on the so-called “coalition of the willing”, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They also held a virtual meeting with other leaders involved in the coalition around the globe.
The five leaders in Ukraine on Saturday spoke to the US president on the phone, and are understood to have updated him on coalition of the willing plans, in a call that lasted about 20 minutes and was described by a UK source as “warm”.
Mr Zelensky said on X that it was a “good conversation” with the American leader that was “positive and concrete”.
“We share a common view: an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire is needed for at least 30 days. We propose it begin on Monday May 12. We are waiting for Russia’s response,” he said.
Sir Keir posted a video on X on Saturday to mark his visit to Kyiv, and said that he “will not rest until we secure a just and lasting peace for the Ukrainian people”.
After arriving in Kyiv, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz joined Mr Zelensky and first lady Olena Zelenska to place candles at a makeshift memorial to killed Ukrainian soldiers, in Kyiv’s Independence Square, during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.
In a joint statement before their visit, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz said they “will stand in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s barbaric and illegal full-scale invasion”.
Military officers from about 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition of the willing which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
