Starmer to hold further Ukraine talks during week of intensive diplomacy
The Prime Minister will lead the call with around 20 like-minded allies who have expressed an interest in contributing to or supporting a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if a deal is reached to end the war with Russia.
Military chiefs from potential members of the coalition will meet in France this week, while talks between Ukraine and the US are taking place in Saudi Arabia.
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin will join counterparts in Paris on Tuesday before Defence Secretary John Healey meets opposite numbers from France, Germany, Italy and Poland in the French capital on Wednesday.
The meeting of defence ministers will also be attended by representatives from Nato and the European Union, with Ukraine's Rustem Umerov dialling in.
Foreign ministers from the G7 – including David Lammy and US counterpart Marco Rubio – will meet in Canada from Wednesday to Friday.
Canada is hosting a #G7ForeignMinisters meeting from March 12 to 14 in Charlevoix, Quebec. Discussions will focus on Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific, the Americas, and Africa. Follow us to stay informed #G7Canada #G7Kananaskis2025 pic.twitter.com/dgf8puZkEZ
— Canada G7 (@G7Canada) March 7, 2025
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'There was the meeting last week, there's another meeting tomorrow, there's a defence secretary-level meeting on Wednesday, there will be the leaders' meeting on Saturday.
'Each of these meetings is obviously progressing the planning. I'm not going to get ahead of proposals being made public but obviously these discussions are ongoing, as you can see from these meetings.'
The talks involving the US and Ukraine on Tuesday come after Volodymyr Zelensky, Sir Keir and French president Emmanuel Macron agreed to work on peace proposals.
Sir Keir is also leading the push for what he called the 'coalition of the willing' – nations prepared to offer troops and guarantees to deter Vladimir Putin's Russia from breaking any peace deal.
Not all the nations involved are expected to commit to join a peacekeeping force, they could offer logistical help for troops in Ukraine or other forms of support.
But Sir Keir has stressed the need for Donald Trump's US to provide a 'backstop' security guarantee, a commitment to intervene if a European-led peacekeeping mission comes under threat.
Government insiders have warned of a 'chicken and egg' situation where European and Commonwealth nations will not promise troops without US guarantees but Mr Trump will not make commitments unless Europe steps up to defend itself.
The UK's national security adviser was in Kyiv for talks over the weekend with top officials ahead of the talks between the Ukrainian and American delegations.
Jonathan Powell met Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the president in Ukraine. In a post on X, Mr Yermak said that they 'exchanged views on key issues on the path to achieving peace'.
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27 minutes ago
Takeaways from the Trump-Putin meeting: No agreement, no questions but lots of pomp
WASHINGTON -- The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin began with a warm welcome and a flyover by screaming jets at a U.S. military base in Alaska but ended with a thud Friday after they conceded that they had failed to reach any agreements on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war. After about 2 1/2 hours of talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the two men appeared before reporters for what had been billed as a joint news conference — but they took no questions. 'We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left,' Trump said. 'We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Putin, welcomed into the U.S. after being shunned by Western allies since early 2022 for ordering the invasion of Ukraine, thanked Trump for hosting the meeting and suggested with a chuckle that the next time the two sit down it could be in Moscow. Here are key takeaways from the summit: Putin got a red carpet welcome and even rode in Trump's presidential limousine from the tarmac to the summit venue. There, the pair were joined by two of their top aides: Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff for Trump and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and national security adviser Yuri Ushakov for Putin. Putin, who spoke first after the meeting concluded, lauded the historical relationship between the United States, Russia and the former Soviet Union, recalling joint missions conducted by the two countries during World War II. He said the U.S. and Russia share values, a standard talking point for Russian officials when trying to woo Trump and his aides. Putin also noted that Trump has frequently said the Ukraine war wouldn't have happened had he won the 2020 election. "I think that would have been the case," the Russian leader said, a comment sure to please Trump. However, there is no indication and no way to prove that Moscow would have acted differently toward Ukraine had Democrat Joe Biden not been elected. Trump had gone into the meeting hoping to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine — or at least a commitment from Russia to enter into negotiations to reach one. Instead, Trump conceded that 'we haven't quite got there' and said he would be conferring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders about next steps. Trump said he and Putin had made some significant progress toward the goal of ending the conflict but gave no details on what that entailed and had to acknowledge that they had been unable to bridge substantial gaps. 'I believe we had a very productive meeting,' Trump said. 'We haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal.' In a subsequent conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, Trump again offered no details on his discussions with Putin. Amid drawn-out diplomatic moves to end the war, time is appears to be on Putin's side. That gives a leg up to Russian forces, who have used their larger numbers to slowly grind down defenses in eastern Ukraine 3 1/2 years into the conflict. Putin got a pleasant reception from the leader of the free world on U.S. soil and walked away hours later without either providing details on what they discussed, whether a ceasefire was any closer to reality or what the next steps would be. Putin praised Trump for the 'friendly' tone of the talks — Trump said nothing publicly about the killing of Ukrainian civilians in Moscow's attacks — and for 'understanding that Russia has its own national interests.' Putin said Moscow and Washington should 'turn the page,' with relations having sunk to the lowest point since the Cold War. Putin appearing in the U.S. for the first time in 10 years was celebrated as a sign that Moscow was no longer a pariah on the global stage. In a social media post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told followers that the Western press would be on the verge of 'losing their minds.' 'For three years, they talked about Russia's isolation, and today they saw the red carpet being rolled out to greet the Russian president in the United States,' she said. Both men said the talks were 'productive' but the lack of any announcement of solid achievements was revealing. The news conference ended up being less than 15 minutes of rather standard diplomatic comments — and gave no indication that any concrete results were achieved — and offered little departure from their previous comments on the war in Ukraine. Trump has made it a feature of his second term to parry questions from reporters in front of world leaders, but in the clearest sign of his disappointment, the president abruptly cut short his plans to take questions. Trump had gone into the summit saying here was a 25% chance that the summit would fail and that it was meant to be a 'feel-out meeting,' but he had also floated the idea of bringing Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting if things went well. It's unclear what comes next.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
No deal, and no answers, after brief Trump-Putin talks on Ukraine in Alaska
Donald Trump left more questions than answers on Friday as he claimed 'great progress' in his high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin but said no deal had been reached to end Russia's war on Ukraine. 'We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to,' the US president said at a joint press conference in Anchorage, Alaska. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Trump cautioned: 'There's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up Nato ... I'll of course call up [Ukraine's] President Zelenskyy and tell him about today's meeting. It's ultimately up to them.' The two leaders lavished praise on each other – Putin endorsed Trump's view that the war would never have started if Trump had won the 2020 election – but offered no details of the nearly three-hour meeting and took no questions from reporters. Putin, speaking through an interpreter, described Trump's efforts on Ukraine as 'precious' and, suggested the two leaders had hammered out 'an understanding'. He urged Europe to 'not throw a wrench in the works' and to 'not use backroom dealings' to torpedo it. Putin said that he agreed that Ukraine's security must be guaranteed – but also said that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be resolved. Those 'root causes' have previously included his demands for Ukraine's formal renunciation of Nato membership as well as its 'denazification' – a vague set of demands that in practice amount to the removal of Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy and European allies might be alarmed by Trump's body language and deferential attitude toward Putin, whom he welcomed warmly at an Alaskan air force base and allowed to ride in the presidential limousine known as 'the beast'. Trump told reporters: 'I've always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin – with Vladimir.' As the press conference ended Putin suggested their next meeting might take place in Moscow, and dozens of reporters shouted questions in vain. The US president, who can typically never resist a free-wheeling press conference, left the stage without answering any of them. Fox News reported that its host Sean Hannity, due to interview Trump on Friday evening, was told by the president that, on a scale of 1 to 10, 'I give today a 10'. But Trump's political opponents took a very different view. Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator and navy combat veteran, tweeted: 'Treat a war criminal like royalty, hide the meeting, share nothing. Putin gets a headline and Ukraine gets what? Next time, ink the deal first.' Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said: 'Donald Trump has been cozying up to Vladimir Putin for years, and this meeting underscored the depth of his sick obsession with the Russian dictator and accused war criminal.' He added: 'Trump has been clear that his foreign policy agenda is letting Russia 'do whatever the hell they want' — no matter how disastrous for the US and our allies — and when put to the test, Trump embarrassed the United States by folding like a cheap suit.' The two leaders disembarked their planes at 11.08am local time at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a cold war-era air force base on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska. The friendly, tactile body language that followed offered a stark contrast to Trump's shakedown of Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office in February. Trump and Putin walked down red carpets that had been rolled up to their respective planes and met where the carpets came to a T, with Trump arriving first and clapping as Putin approached. The men shared a warm handshake and what appeared to be some lighthearted banter. Trump gave Putin a friendly tap on the arm. Putin grinned and pointed skyward while their hands were still clasped. The pair walked together towards a platform bearing a sign that read Alaska 2025 as B-2s and F-22s – military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the cold war – flew over to mark the moment. Trump and Putin stood looking towards the media but did not respond to shouted questions including: 'President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?' The Russian president, who is wanted by the international criminal court, appeared to shrug. Putin then joined Trump in the presidential limousine – a rare privilege for allies and adversaries alike – and could be seen laughing with glee. The men then sat together in a conference room with their respective delegations, seated to the side in front of a blue backdrop that had the words 'Pursuing Peace' printed on it several times. Trump was joined by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Putin by his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov. Related: Who are the US and Russian delegates meeting in Alaska to discuss Ukraine? The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the previously planned one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin would be a three-on-three negotiation. That marked a shift from a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, when Trump and Putin first met privately just with their interpreters for two hours. Critics say that, by bringing Putin on to US soil for the first time in a decade, the president has given him the legitimacy he craves after he became a global pariah following his invasion of Ukraine in 2022. European allies fear that the notoriously mercurial Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict with Russia and recognising – if only informally – Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine. Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps. 'I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table,' he said. Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: 'I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today ... I want the killing to stop.' On his way to Alaska, Trump sat for an interview on Air Force One with Fox News Channel's Bret Baier. In a clip posted online, he said he thought the meeting would 'work out very well – and if it doesn't, I'm going to head back home real fast.' 'I would walk, yeah,' he added, after a follow-up question. Any success is far from assured because Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in eastern arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine's mobilisation efforts, which are conditions rejected by Kyiv and its western allies. Trump previously characterised the summit as 'really a feel-out meeting'. But he has also warned of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin does not agree to end the war. Trump said earlier in the week there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail but also floated the idea that, if the meeting succeeds, he could bring Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Trump, Putin tout progress to end war in Ukraine, but no cease-fire announced
1 of 14 | Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump after a joint press conference following a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday. Photo by Bob Strong/UPI | License Photo Aug. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a 3 1/2-hour face-to-face summit in Alaska on Friday, said they made progress in reaching a deal on peace in Ukraine, though no cease-fire was announced. The two leaders appeared before reporters at 3 p.m. local time but took no questions from them. Their meeting began at 11:30 a.m. Alaska time. They also didn't mention a key issue: whether Russia or Ukraine will give up acquired land. But when asked later in person by Sean Hannity on Fox News whether they agreed on a land swap, Trump said: "Those are points that we negotiated and those are points that we largely have agreed on. Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say no." He also told Hannity that he would hold off on imposing more sanctions or "other severe consequences" against Russia if the war wasn't halted. Earlier this month he threatened harsh sanctions. Neither president gave any details to reporters. "We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to," Trump said, speaking for 3 1/2 minutes. "We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there." He said: "There's no deal until there's a deal." Putin, speaking first for about eight minutes and 30 seconds, said an accord to end the 3 1/2-year-old war will "pave the path toward peace in Ukraine." The agreement must deal with security. "As I've said, the situation in Ukraine has to do with fundamental threats to our security," Putin said. "I agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally, we have prepared to work on that," he said. Missing from the summit: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He and his aides were not invited, though Trump has said he hopes for a second meeting that will include him. Putin said Friday that he suggested the next meeting to take place in Moscow. "That's an interesting one, I'll get a little heat on that one," Trump said. "But I could see it possibly happening." Trump said he will discuss details of the first meeting with allies and Zelensky. "I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate,"Trump said. "And I'll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today's meeting. It's ultimately up to them." Putin told Ukrainian and European leaders not to intervene. "We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive all this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles, will not make attempts to disrupt the emerging progress through provocations and behind-the-scenes intrigues," he said. Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of Ukraine's parliament, posted Friday on Telegram: "It seems that Putin has gained more time. No cease-fire or de-escalation has been agreed upon." John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser during his first term, told CNN: "Trump did not lose, but Putin clearly won. Trump didn't come away with anything, except more meetings. "He escaped sanctions. He's not facing a cease-fire. The next meeting is not set. ... It's far from over, but I'd say Putin achieved most of what he wanted. Trump achieved very little." The two leaders praised each other. "Our negotiations took place in a respectful, constructive and mutually respectful atmosphere, were very thorough and useful," Putin said. Trump said: "We had many, many tough meetings, good meetings," and "always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin." He said their relationship was hurt by investigations during his first term in office about Moscow's interference in the 2016 election. "We were interfered with by the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax," Trump said. "I've made it a little bit tougher to deal with, but he understood it." In the interview with Hannit, Trump said: "So I think the meeting was a 10 in the sense that we got along great. And it's good when, you know, two big powers get along, especially when they're nuclear powers." Trump and Putin stood in front of blue backdrop that read "Pursuing Peace." It was the seventh face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. The summit was originally supposed to be one-on-one with interpreters. During the president's flight to Alaska, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters aboard Air Force One about a change in plans for the meeting, saying there wouldn't be an expected one-on-one meeting -- with interpreters -- between Trump and Putin. The two men met that way at their meeting on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 14, 2022, when Joe Biden was the U.S. president. Putin has had two terms as president since 2000. He was prime minister from 2008 to 2012. Putin told reporters he agreed with Trump that the war wouldn't have happened if Trump were president then. He also said Trump will "help us bring back business life and pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S." In the summit, Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also is Trump's national security adviser, as well as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin was accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, an aide on foreign policy issues. After the bilateral portion of the summit, the delegations were to meet for lunch, but The Wall Steet Journal reported it didn't happen. Trump's delegation included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles. Before Putin departed, he laid flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers at Fort Richardson Memorial Cemetery. They died while bringing equipment from the United States to the Soviet Union during World War II. The U.S. purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 for $7.2 million. Alaska became a U.S. state in 1959. After Putin's plane departed, Trump left around 4:20 p.m. and headed back to Washington, D.C. Leaders' arrival Their planes both arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, which is geographically close to Russia. It is a U.S. Army and Air Force base. Trump first arrived aboard Air Force One after flying 4,000 miles from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The nonstop flight lasted six hours. Before the flight, he posted on Truth Social: 'HIGH STAKES!!! About 30 minutes later, Putin got off an Ilyushin II-96, the primary aircraft in the Russian presidential fleet. His flight lasted 12 hours from Russia's Magadan Airport in the far eastern nation. The party broke their journey for a "full-fledged regional trip," including a visit to an industrial plant and a meeting with the regional governor, according to the Kremlin. Trump didn't leave the plane until Putin's jet landed. While on the ground, he greeted Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, all Republicans. Trump met Putin near his plane, and they shook hands. They went on a red carpet and posed for a photo. They didn't answer any questions from reporters. Putin didn't answer whether he would "stop killing civilians," appearing to gesture that he couldn't hear the question. Putin joined Trump in the U.S. president's limousine, known as the Beast, as they departed from the tarmac. They both sat in the back of the vehicle. American fighter jets flew overhead. In war-torn Ukraine, Zelensky before the summit urged an end to the war in a video post on X on Friday. "On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing, as well," he said. "And that speaks volumes. ... Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to bring the war to an end, and we count on a strong position from America. Everything will depend on this -- the Russians factor in American strength. Make no mistake -- strength." He added: "Russia must end the war that it itself started and has been dragging out for years. The killings must stop. A meeting of leaders is needed -- at the very least, Ukraine, America, and the Russian side -- and it is precisely in such a format that effective decisions are possible. Security guarantees are needed. Lasting peace is needed. Everyone knows the key objectives. I want to thank everyone who is helping to achieve real results." Unease over the staging of a summit on Ukraine without Zelensky also showed little sign of abating, with protests in the streets of Anchorage in support of Kyiv and questioning Trump's ability to negotiate a deal with Putin. Ukrainians were also on the streets of Kyiv, demonstrating outside the U.S. embassy, demanding the return of their loved ones held by Russia over "land swaps" envisaged in any peace deal.
