Sir Keir Starmer has set out plans for the UK to lead a “coalition of the willing” to defend peace in Ukraine after a crucial defence summit with Volodymyr Zelensky and world leaders in London.
In an apparent message to Donald Trump, the Prime Minister said any peace deal must be “backed by strength”, particularly from the US.
Starmer added that the UK was willing to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” as part of a coalition peacekeeping force to defend Ukraine from the threat of Russia.
The PM said world leaders had agreed to keep military aid flowing to Ukraine, and to continue to help the country bolster its defence capabilities in the event of a peace deal.
He also announced a new £2.2bn loan for Ukraine backed by profits from frozen Russian assets, and £1.6bn in export finance for the country to purchase air defence missiles.
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The UK has signed a £1.6bn deal to supply more than 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine using export finance.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday that the lightweight multi-role missiles (LMM) will be made in Northern Ireland, creating 200 jobs.
He added: “This will be vital for protecting critical infrastructure now and strengthen Ukraine in securing the peace when it comes because we have to learn from the mistakes of the past.”
The missiles, which are capable of flying at 1.5 times the speed of sound and striking targets over 6km away, can be used to attack enemy vehicles, boats and drones.
They will be manufactured at the Thales weapons plant in Belfast.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This new support will help protect Ukraine against drone and missile attacks but it will also help deter further Russian aggression following any end to the fighting.
“This new deal delivers on the UK’s ironclad commitment to step up military support for Ukraine whilst boosting jobs and growth at home.”
The contract will be funded by a loan underwritten by United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF).
In September, the Government announced a £162m deal to send 650 LMMs to Ukraine.
by Anne McElvoy
Time’s arrow is moving at formidable speed in dealings with the White House, something Keir Starmer is experiencing as he plays a diplomatic “Trump” card with the US: inviting the President on an “unprecedented” second state visit to the UK.
The first visit, Starmer underlined, was a “tremendous success”. His host broke with an excoriating tone towards European powers to describe his excitement at the prospect of meeting King Charles – “a beautiful man” – for a second time in Blighty, “a fantastic country”. We are all hyperbolists now.
So far, the “golden coach” tactic of inviting a bling-loving US leader who adores royal trappings was proceeding to plan. That changed abruptly – as things that involve Donald Trump tend to do – during his meeting in Washington on Friday with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The meeting was scheduled to agree the broad terms of a deal between the US and Ukraine on mineral rights as an element of any peace deal in the war unleashed by Russia, but it veered into a bitter argument between the two men, with additional dressing-downs added by the fiery Vice President JD Vance.
As a result, the UK state visit has pitched from smart tactical move to get Britain to the front of the queue in terms of trade and defence favours from the US, to a contentious example of how much leeway to give a president who has fundamentally different views on how to end the war and treat Vladimir Putin’s aggressive Russia.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said nothing is more important to his citizens than “standing up for our sovereignty” after Donald Trump recently suggested making the country into the 51st US state.
Asked what his priority will be when he meets on Monday with King Charles, who is Canada’s head of state, he cited the issue of protecting his country’s sovereignty.
“I look forward to sitting down with his majesty tomorrow, as always we will discuss matters of importance to Canada and Canadians, and I can tell you that nothing seems more important to Canadians than standing up for our sovereignty and our independence as a nation,” Trudeau told reporters.
Photos are coming in of the leaders at today’s summit at Lancaster House in London. It’s rare to see a group shot of so many premiers in one place, especially focused on one issue: Ukraine.
There is a slight element of the Spice Girls video for Wannabe about this staircase setting but with so many leaders, national flags, and such an imposing building, there can’t be that many options.
Macron, Starmer and Zelensky were front and centre. Later, Justin Trudeau and Zelensky were spotted having a moment to speak together.
A helicopter could be seen departing the Sandringham estate in Norfolk at 6.35pm, following the meeting between the King and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given a press conference following today’s emergency summit.
He said: “It’s important at every chance we get to lay out the facts as clearly as possible.
“In 2014 Russia chose to invade Ukraine, to occupy Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. For that, they were kicked out of the G7 and in 2022 they chose to violate the existing ceasefire and invaded Ukraine with the intention of taking Kyiv in three days and the entire country in three weeks.
“That has failed. Russia continues to try to fight to claim more land in Ukraine. We could see an end to this war tomorrow if Russia decided to stop its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“On Friday in the Oval Office, President Zelensky pointed out in so many words that Vladimir Putin is a liar and a criminal and cannot be trusted to keep his word in any way, shape or form, because he has demonstrated time and time again that he will break any agreements.
“I stand with Volodymyr Zelensky and I stand with the people of Ukraine.”
The Prime Minister says leaders at the summit agreed four important steps:
A waving King Charles cut a carefree figure as he arrived for church on his Sandringham estate this Sunday. Yet it is a fair bet that the monarch was pondering a more sobering matter – his role as an unexpectedly prominent mover and shaker in Europe’s unfolding security crisis.
It is a testimony to the King’s prominence as an adjunct to this weekend’s high-octane diplomatic manoeuverings that after attending Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s summit of world leaders in London on Sunday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was due at the monarch’s Norfolk estate by helicopter for a personal audience.
The presence of Mr Zelensky at Sandringham – which like all royal encounters with heads of state was the result of the convention that invitations are extended by Buckingham Palace at the request of the British government – can be interpreted in a number of ways.
Some four days after Charles formed the regal spear tip of Sir Keir’s charm offensive on Donald Trump by writing the letter proferring to the American president an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, the invitation to Mr Zelensky is an essential reassertion of royal neutrality by ensuring that the Ukrainian leader gets his own fireside chat in Sandringham.
Sources were on Sunday at pains to play down any idea that the invitation to Mr Zelensky was a conspicuous show of royal support following his schismatic row with Mr Trump and US vice-president JD Vance. Palace aides explained privately that the Sandringham meeting had been planned prior to Friday’s sulphurous Oval Office shouting match.
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Photos have just emerged of King Charles greeting President Zelensky at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The Ukrainian president departed London in a helicopter after the emergency leaders summit this afternoon and was a guest at the invitation of the King.
The Prime Minister said there is a “huge amount of common ground” between him and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
He said: “I had a very good bilateral meeting with Giorgia this morning, we had the first bilateral brunch, I think, in the history of British-Italian relations, so that was a first.
“We get on personally very well, and she’s very clear, I don’t want to speak for her, but I think her position is well known, that Europe and the US have to stand together and that bond must always be strong.
“So there’s a huge amount of common ground between the way I see this and the way Giorgia sees this, particularly the view that it is important for the security and defence of Italy, Europe and the United Kingdom that we work as we’ve always worked closely aligned with the United States.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said that he accepts “without criticism and with respect” the position of other countries who may not feel able to contribute to the so-called “coalition of the willing”.
Asked whether he had been trying to persuade other nations to join it today, Starmer said: “A number of countries have indicated today that they want to be part of the plan that we are developing.
“I’ll leave them to make their own statements about exactly how they want to make that contribution.
“But we’ve been able to move that forward. I accept, without criticism and with respect, the position of other countries that may not feel that they want to contribute in that way but I strongly feel that unless some move forward, we will stay in the position we’re in and not be able to move forward.”
Sir Keir Starmer said that people in the UK have been affected by the war in Ukraine by consequences such as the increase in energy bills.
Asked whether there is now more of a real prospect of Britain being at war with Russia, Starmer said: “The reason I’ve been forward-leaning on this is because I want to avoid conflict, because I do not want conflict in Ukraine, in Europe (…) I want stability in the United Kingdom.
“The way to ensure that stability is to ensure that we are able to defend a deal in Ukraine, because the one thing our history tells us is that if there is conflict in Europe, it will wash up on our shores.
“Already, in the last three years, what’s happened in Ukraine has had a massive impact on many working people back here in the United Kingdom because their bills have gone up, their energy bills have gone up. There’s been an instability in our economy caused by that conflict, so we are not unaffected.”
The Prime Minister added: “And of course, our own security and defence depends on the defence and security of Europe. So every step I am taking is in order to preserve peace, to avoid conflict, because the safety and security of the British people is my number one duty and responsibility, and I take it very seriously.”
The i Paper‘s Political Editor, Hugo Gye, asks: “Obviously the other party that would need to sign up to any future peace deal is Russia. President Trump has said he wants to talk to Russia. You’re coming up with a peace deal without Russia’s involvement. What makes you think that Russia can be persuaded to sign up to this deal that’s been agreed by its enemies?”
Starmer replies: “In the end a deal will have to involve Russia – of course it will – but we can’t approach this on the basis that Russia dictates the terms of any security guarantee before we’ve even got to a deal, otherwise we won’t make any progress at all.
“For a deal to be done – if a deal is done – it has to be a deal that is then defended, because what we’ve seen in the past is a cessation of the hostilities without any backup, and that was readily breached by Russia. And that is precisely the situation that I think that we need to avoid this time round, which is why we’re going down this road.”
Starmer has rejected a suggestion that the US is now an “unreliable ally,” saying that it has been a reliable ally for many, many decades, and continues to be.”
He reiterates that the summit took place on the basis that Europe will work together with the US.
“Nobody wanted to see what happened last Friday, but I do not accept that the US is an unreliable ally,” he said.
“The US has been a reliable ally to the UK for many, many decades, and continues to be. There are no two countries as closely aligned as our two countries and our defence, our security and intelligence is intertwined in a way no two other countries are.”
The prime minister says leaders at the summit agreed four important steps:
“The first priority of this government – of any government – is the safety and security of the British people.” This is how Keir Starmer opened his news conference following what is now termed an emergency summit with European leaders.
He said that they have agreed that the UK and France “and others” had agreed a plan to help Ukraine stop the fighting and come to a “just and enduring peace, for the good of all of us.”
Starmer said that first priority was to put Ukraine in a position of strength, reiterating the £2.26bn loan the UK and Ukraine signed yesterday. He announced a new deal allowing Ukraine to use £1.6bn of UK export finance to buy missiles which would be made in Belfast and create extra jobs.
“We have to learn from the mistakes of the past. We cannot accept a weak ceasefire like Minsk.”
Starmer said that every country must contribute in the best way they can, all “stepping up their own share of the burden.”
Nato’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, said that some European leaders had privately set out new plans ramping up defence spending during a meeting in London, but he declined to give details, saying it was for individual leaders to set them out. Rutte was speaking to reporters outside the meeting on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has left London by helicopter to meet the King at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
The meeting comes after Donald Trump was also invited to meet the King earlier this week.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is the first leader leaving the defence summit in London to share her thoughts on its outcome.
She said the leaders had a “good and frank discussion” on what is needed to put Ukraine in a strong and secure position.
The Commission’s President added that Ukraine needs “comprehensive security guarantees” and that “we urgently have to rearm Europe”.
“It is now of utmost importance to step up the defence investment for a prolonged period of time. It’s for the security of the European Union, and we need…in the geostrategic environment in which we live, to prepare for the worst, and therefore stepping up the defences.”
Asked about her message for the US, Von der Leyen said “we are ready, together with you, to defend democracy and the principle that there is a rule of law, that you cannot invade … and bully your neighbour or cannot change borders with force”.
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