Keir Starmer to join crucial Ukraine talks with Donald Trump ahead of major Putin summit
Keir Starmer is set to join a call with Donald Trump and EU leaders on Wednesday ahead of the US President's face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The Russian tyrant and Mr Trump are expected to discuss the future of the Kremlin's brutal invasion of Ukraine at the high-stakes meeting in Alaska on Friday. Ukraine's wartime leader Volodymyr Zelensky is not expected to be present - raising fears a peace plan could be negotiated without Kyiv's involvement.
On Tuesday evening, Downing Street confirmed Mr Starmer will take part in a series of virtual calls on Wednesday with the US President and European leaders on Ukraine. No10 said the Prime Minister is "absolutely focused" on a solution to the conflict - now in its third year - but insisted it must be "grounded in Ukraine's national interests". "He is determined to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, backed by robust and credible security guarantees that will deter Russia from threatening Ukraine in future," they aded. It comes after the Kremlin warned of nuclear war after unleashing another night of hell on Ukraine.
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Mr Starmer will first join a call with European leaders including Ukraine's Zelensky, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanunel Macron. They will then be joined by Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance to discuss the negotiations with Putin's Russia ahead of Friday's talks in Alaska.
The PM will then co-chair a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing - countries prepared to provide military support to maintain any peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Earlier this week, Mr Zelensky posted on X that the Russian dictator "is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war". He warned allies: "Putin is determined only to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before, applying the same pressure on Ukraine as before."
He added: "So far, there is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation. On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations. If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does.
"We continue to keep our partners informed about the real situation on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and in Russia's planning of further actions."
On Monday, Mr Starmer's official spokesman also warned Putin is not to be trusted. They said: "Never trust President Putin as far as you could throw him, but we obviously will support Ukraine. We will obviously support President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations.
"But it is exactly why we've been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for President Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again. So we're not going to leave it to trust. We're going to ensure that we're prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire."
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, has called for Zelensky to be at the summit alongside Putin and Trump. But during a White House briefing earlier this week, the US President said: "He wasn't a part of it. I would say he could go, but he's gone to a lot of meetings. You know, he's been there for three and a half years. Nothing happened.'
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