Keir Starmer recalled meeting a Ukrainian patient in a burns unit who said ‘if Ukraine fails, Europe will be next’ as he battles to persuade Donald Trump not to sell out Kyiv
Keir Starmer has issued a grim warning that “Europe will be next” if Vladimir Putin isn’t stopped.
On the third anniversary of Russia’s bloody invasion, the Prime Minister said the voices of Ukrainians “echo in my ears” as he recalled meeting a patient called Petro in a burns unit.”
He said to me ‘if Ukraine fails, Europe will be next’, and that is what is at stake here,” Mr Starmer told an international summit in Kyiv. That is why we will always stand with Ukraine and our allies against this aggression and for a just and lasting peace”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to end the war “this year”. But fears are mounting that Donald Trump is preparing to sell out Kyiv for a botched peace deal.
In an alarming shift, the US sided with Russia, Belarus, North Korea and 14 other countries in voting against a UN resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of Kremlin forces. Foreign Secretary David Lammy distanced himself from the move, telling MPs: “We are proud to have co-sponsored the general assembly resolution proposed by Ukraine in support of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Tory MP Alicia Kearns said: “The US just joined Russia, North Korea, Burkina Faso, Hungary, Belarus and a handful of others to vote against a resolution put forward by Ukraine at the UN condemning Russian aggression and demanding the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces. Extraordinary.” Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “This is a wake-up call for all those cheerleading Trump in our country.”
Ahead of a high-stakes visit to Washington to meet Mr Trump, Mr Starmer directly contradicted the US President’s claim that Russia was in a strong position as its economy reels from the cost of maintaining its brutal onslaught.
He said: “Russia does not hold all the cards in this war because the Ukrainians have the courage to defend their country, because Russia’s economy is in trouble and because they have now lost the best of their land forces and their Black Sea Fleet in this pointless invasion. So we must increase the pressure even further to deliver an enduring peace, not just a pause in fighting.”
Mr Putin must be forced “not just to talk, but to make concessions” by dialling up pressure on Russia’s economy, the PM said. The UK slapped new sanctions on Russia – the largest package since the early days of the war – in a bid to force Mr Putin to the table.
The Foreign Office announced 107 new designations, that include 40 ships in Russia’s shadow fleet, 14 “new kleptocrats”, North Korean officials involved in sending troops to fight for Russia, Kyrgyz bank OJSC Keremet, and companies in China, Turkey and India that supply Russia’s military.
But the PM continued to walk a diplomatic tight-rope by praising the notoriously thin-skinned US President for having “changed the global conversation” on Ukraine. He repeated calls for Ukraine to have a seat at the table for peace talks, and for a US “backstop” to any deal, which he is expected to raise with Mr Trump at a high-stakes meeting in Washington this week.
Mr Starmer also expressed solidarity with Kyiv after a war of words erupted between the US and UK. In the last few days Mr Trump has attacked Ukraine’s President and blindsided European leaders by excluding Kyiv from negotiations over peace talks.
The PM said: “I have a very simple, clear message today: the UK is with you. Today and every day. From His Majesty the King to the NHS workers volunteering in hospitals in Ukraine to the communities that took Ukrainian refugees to their heart.”
Mr Lammy struck a sceptical note on Russia’s ambitions to end the war, saying it had spent years conducting “foreign policy by lies”. He told MPs: “We must respond by being true to ourselves and provide the support Ukraine needs to stay strong because that is what is needed to secure a lasting peace and to shape our collective security so that Putin never invades again.”
Praising the courage of the Ukrainians, he said: “I have witnessed their fortitude first-hand on three visits to Kyiv over the last year, their defiant Blitz spirit as Russian missiles and drones rain down night after night after night, so on this grim anniversary, amid all the talk about talks, we must not forget that Russia’s barbaric war goes on, that Ukrainian people are suffering, and beyond Europe, the conflict is piling pressure on the world’s poorest, too.”
The PM hosted Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion at Downing Street last night(MON), along with hosts from the Homes For Ukraine scheme and charity representatives. He said finding a lasting peace was a “duty on all of us”, adding: “This is bigger than Ukraine, it’s about our security and defence here in the United Kingdom and the values that we hold dear.
“Whatever happens next, Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position. We also need to be clear: you can’t negotiate about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
