The PM will tell European leaders they need to play their part on defence and “step up for the good of collective security”
Keir Starmer hopes to soothe tensions over Ukraine – salvaging any hope of peace for the country after talks between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky dramatically imploded in Washington.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Downing Street this morning (SUN), before being joined at the summit by the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania. The Turkish Foreign Minister, NATO Secretary General and the Presidents of the European Commission and European Council will also attend.
Discussions at the summit will focus on strengthening Ukraine’s position now, the need for a strong lasting deal that delivers a permanent peace and ensures that Ukraine is able to deter and defend against future Russian attack, and the next steps towards strong security guarantees.
The PM will tell European leaders they need to play their part on defence and “step up for the good of collective security”, Downing Street said. “Three years on from Russia ’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we are at a turning point,” Mr Starmer said ahead of the conference.
“Today I will reaffirm my unwavering support for Ukraine and double down on my commitment to provide capacity, training and aid to Ukraine, putting it in the strongest possible position. In partnership with our allies, we must intensify our preparations for the European element of security guarantees alongside continued discussions with the United States.
“We have an opportunity to come together to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine that secures their sovereignty and security. Now is the time for us to unite in order to guarantee the best outcome for Ukraine, protect European security, and secure our collective future.”
Mr Zelensky was welcomed to Britain with a warm hug from Keir Starmer on Downing Street – in stark contrast to his treatment when visiting Trump. Cheers rang from crowds of well-wishers on Whitehall as the PM led Ukraine’s President inside to try and salvage any hope of peace in his country. Mr Zelensky was a day early arriving in London.
He’d expected to stay in the US an extra day after meeting President Trump, before heading to the UK on Sunday to attend the summit of European leaders hosted by Mr Starmer. But that all changed after the unprecedented blow-up in the Oval Office the night before. Now he’ll meet with King Charles at Sandringham, before attending the conference this afternoon.
“I hope you heard the cheering in the street,” Mr Starmer said as he and Mr Zelensky sat down inside. “That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine. And our absolute determination to stand with you – unwavering determination – and to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace. Mr Zelensky appeared deeply moved by the sight, saying: “I want to thank you, people of the United Kingdom, such big support from the beginning of this war.”
He added: “We’re really, really happy that we have such partners and such friends.” Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves pledged to unlock £2.26 billion worth of frozen Russian assets to be sent in loans to support the defence of Ukraine. And she’ll change the remit of the £27.8 billion National Wealth Fund (NWF) so it can be spent on supporting the defence sector. The fund was previously only used for infrastructure projects such as green energy schemes.
In astonishing scenes on Friday evening, the US President – and Vice President JD Vance – berated his Ukrainian counterpart in front of the world ’s media, telling him he “didn’t have the cards” to win the war without the United States. And he issued Ukraine’s President with an ultimatum: “You either make a deal, or we’re out.”
But Zelensky warned Trump promises of peace from Vladimir Putin could not be trusted. He called the Russian leader a killer and a terrorist and told Trump there should be “no compromises with a killer.” Zelensky had been expected to walk away from Friday’s meeting with a deal on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources – and hoped to secure ongoing security guarantees to protect his country from Vladimir Putin’s aggression. Instead he left with nothing.
As Mr Zelensky prepares for his audience with the King, calls are growing for Britain to withdraw the invitation extended just days ago for Mr Trump to enjoy an unprecedented second state visit to the UK. More than 100,000 people signed an online petition on the 38 Degrees website calling for the trip to be scrapped. And John Swinney, the Scottish First Minister called for the King’s invitation to be ripped up, saying it was now “simply unimaginable” that we could roll out the red carpet for Mr Trump for a second time.
Mr Swinney told the Sunday Mail: “If the US withdraws support from Ukraine, abandoning an ally and betraying democracy, the State Visit cannot go ahead. That is simply unimaginable.” Meanwhile Alastair Campbell, Labour ’s former comms director, suggested Donald Trump had intentionally “ambushed” Mr Zelensky with the Oval Office showdown.
Writing exclusively for the Sunday Mirror, he said: “If [Trump] and his vile deputy JD Vance had been serious about using Friday’s meeting with Zelensky to advance that peace deal, they would have talked things through BEFORE calling in the media. The fact that they didn’t suggests to me the entire thing was an ambush, maybe not designed to be as awful as it turned out to be, but an ambush nonetheless.”