Starmer welcomes Zelensky’s ‘steadfast commitment to securing peace’
The Prime Minister spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday afternoon and said that ‘no one wanted peace more’ than Kyiv.
Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky’s “steadfast commitment to securing peace” as the Ukrainian leader said he was “ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership” to end the war with Russia.
The Prime Minister spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday afternoon and said that “no one wanted peace more” than Kyiv.
It comes as Mr Zelensky has called for a “truce in the sky” and a “truce in the sea” if Russia agrees to the same and said it is “time to make things right” after his clash in the Oval Office with Donald Trump last week.
Sir Keir had previously spoken to Mr Trump about the need to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine, hours before the White House paused military aid to Kyiv on Monday.
Issuing a read out of the call between the leaders, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister updated on his discussion with President Trump last night.
“It was vital that all parties worked towards a lasting and secure peace for Ukraine as soon as possible, the Prime Minister added.
“Turning to President Zelensky’s most recent calls for further diplomatic efforts to achieve the swiftest possible end to the war, the Prime Minister welcomed President Zelensky’s steadfast commitment to securing peace.
“Underscoring that any peace for Ukraine needed to be lasting and secure, the Prime Minister said no one wanted peace more than Ukraine.
“The leaders agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days.”
Mr Zelensky said the two leaders “discussed the current developments and exchanged views on the next steps”, saying he was “grateful for the advice and support during this challenging time”.
“We are co-ordinating our positions and doing everything to achieve guaranteed peace as soon as possible and bring an end to this war,” he said.
The bilateral ties between Kyiv and Washington appeared to be in tatters after the clash in the Oval Office between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky on Friday, an encounter the Ukrainian leader has now called “regrettable”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Zelensky had said: “My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.
“Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”
He said that Ukraine is “ready” to sign a minerals deal and said the Washington meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to be”.
“It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive,” he said.
The White House has suspended delivery of ammunition and other equipment to Kyiv, announcing overnight that assistance is being “reviewed” to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution”.
Downing Street had earlier revealed on Tuesday that the Prime Minister and the US president spoke on Monday night.
At around midnight reports emerged from Washington indicating Mr Trump was halting the flow of arms to Mr Zelensky’s country in the latest sign of tensions between the US and Ukrainian presidents.
Downing Street said the conversation had focused on “progress towards securing a lasting peace in Ukraine”.
The conversation on Monday night followed phone calls with Mr Trump over the weekend and the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington last week.
The matter of security guarantees that could be given to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal to discourage Vladimir Putin from reinvading has been a key topic in discussions.
Sir John Sawers, the former chief of MI6, told LBC on Tuesday evening that there could be “border incursions into the Baltic states” as a test of Nato Article 5 resilience.
He said: “I think we’ll see more targeted attacks against undersea cables and maybe gas pipelines, just to unnerve the Europeans.
“And we might see some border incursions into the Baltic states, for example, just to test whether Article 5 is still there.”
