Starmer and Zelensky to urge Trump to hit Russia with more sanctions
Keir Starmer and Ukrainian president Zelensky will this week try to pressure Donald Trump to hit Russia with fresh sanctions if Vladimir Putin continues to resist calls for an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. The Prime Minister said targeting Moscow with further action would 'undoubtedly' form part of talks at the international summit this week unless the Kremlin engages in peace talks.
Mr Zelensky is expected to attend the conference in Canada , where leaders from the world's major economies are descending on a luxury mountain lodge in the Rockies for talks on global security. And Sir Keir is expected to hold talks with Mr Trump, who at the weekend told Putin over the phone that the war in Ukraine 'should end'.
Mr Zelensky has accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal and offered to talk directly with his counterpart in Moscow, but the Russian leader has so far shown no willingness to meet him. Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Kananaskis, Sir Keir was asked if he expects additional sanctions on Russia to be agreed by international partners.
'We've got President Zelensky coming, so that provides a good opportunity for us to discuss again as a group,' he said. 'My long-standing view is, we need to get Russia to the table for an unconditional ceasefire.
'That's not been really straightforward. But we do need to be clear about we need to get to the table and that if that doesn't happen, sanctions will undoubtedly be part of the discussion at the G7.' Sir Keir faces a busy week of diplomacy with spiraling conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine top of the agenda in the talks between leaders from Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain.
It comes as the Foreign Office advised against all travel to Israel following further retaliatory attacks by Iran. Downing Street has not ruled out moving to evacuate UK nationals from the country if the situation deteriorates.
In his first bilateral meeting at the summit, the Prime Minister and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni reiterated their 'enduring support' for Kyiv. '(They agreed) that it is a topic of our common security that they looked forward to discussing in the next two days,' a Downing Street readout said, describing the conference as coming at a 'vitally important moment for the world'.
Sir Keir is also likely to have talks with Emmanuel Macron, with whom he has been making plans for a so-called 'coalition of the willing' to send peacekeeping forces to Kyiv. The Prime Minister told reporters he had a 'good relationship' with the US president, which is 'important' at a time of heightened global instability.
'I've been saying, for probably the best part of six months now, we're in a new era of defense and security, a new era for trade and the economy,' he said. 'And I think it's really important for Britain to play a leading part in that, and that's what I'll be doing at the G7, talking to all of our partners in a constructive way.
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