Sir Keir Starmer yesterday embraced Volodymyr Zelensky in a crucial display of support, backing Ukraine’s leader following his explosive shouting match at the White House with Donald Trump.
Ahead of hosting a pivotal defence summit today, the Prime Minister warmly hugged Mr Zelensky in Downing Street after the apparent collapse in Ukraine’s relationship with America.
Sir Keir declared the embattled war leader had the ‘full backing’ of the UK, adding: ‘We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.’
In another vital gesture of UK support, Mr Zelensky will visit King Charles at Sandringham.
More than a dozen European leaders will also gather at Lancaster House in London today to thrash out plans to boost military support for Ukraine after the extraordinary row that erupted in the Oval Office in Washington on Friday in front of the world’s media.
The furious US President told Mr Zelensky to sign a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin or ‘we’re out’, while his hostile Vice President JD Vance scolded the Ukrainian leader for failing to say ‘thank you’.
‘You’re gambling with millions of people… you’re gambling with World War Three,’ Mr Trump said.
He is now considering ending military aid shipments to Ukraine, according to US media reports.
Sir Keir declared the embattled war leader had the ‘full backing’ of the UK, adding: ‘We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take’
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday embraced Volodymyr Zelensky in a crucial display of support
The Prime Minister warmly hugged Mr Zelensky in Downing Street after the apparent collapse in Ukraine’s relationship with America
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hugs Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he leaves 10 Downing Street
Crowds had gathered outside of No.10 to show their support for the war-stricken leader, who appeared in his trademark black polo emblazoned with the Ukrainian military trident
The Washington Post quoted a senior White House official saying such a decision would halt billions of dollars of vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine.
Amid mounting international alarm, Nato chief Mark Rutte told Mr Zelensky he should repair his relationship with Mr Trump. Mr Rutte, who spoke to Mr Zelensky twice folowing the White House debacle, said: ‘I told him we really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine,’ referring to the US supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles.
As he landed in Britain a day ahead of schedule, Mr Zelensky yesterday issued a string of social media posts, totalling more than 600 words, in which he insisted he is grateful for US support.
But in an apparent signal that he will not cave in to US pressure, he also called for Mr Trump to stand ‘more firmly’ behind Ukraine. He wrote: ‘It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war but no one wants peace more than we do.
‘We are the ones living this war in Ukraine. It’s a fight for our freedom, our very survival.’
Greeting him later at No 10, and referring to the cheers of supporters who gathered outside Downing Street, Sir Keir said: ‘I hope you heard some of that cheering in the street, that is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you and Ukraine and our absolute determination to stand with you – unwavering determination.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly releasing more than £2billion from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s military – the first time money generated from the appreciation of such assets will be used for military purposes.
She and the Ukrainian finance minister will sign a £2.26billion UK-Ukraine bilateral loan agreement, the Sunday Times reported.
She is also poised to change the remit of the £27.8billion National Wealth Fund – previously reserved for infrastructure projects – so it can be spent on supporting the British defence sector.
Greeting him later at No 10, and referring to the cheers of supporters who gathered outside Downing Street, Sir Keir said: ‘I hope you heard some of that cheering in the street’
The extraordinary row that erupted in the Oval Office in Washington on Friday in front of the world’s media
The furious US President told Mr Zelensky to sign a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin or ‘we’re out’, while his hostile Vice President JD Vance scolded the Ukrainian leader for failing to say ‘thank you’
The summit will also be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Rutte and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Leaders from Poland, Italy, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania will also be there. America will not be involved in the crunch meeting.
The European leaders are expected to discuss a plan to create an international ‘reassurance’ force that could be deployed to Ukraine to help secure a ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Mr Macron have attempted to persuade Mr Trump to provide ‘security guarantees’ to deter Vladimir Putin from breaking any peace deal.
The UK wants the US military to provide surveillance and intelligence and for its warplanes to provide crucial air cover.
But Mr Trump has resisted calls for such US military support, suggesting that closer economic ties between Washington and Kyiv, including a mineral deal worth billions of pounds, would effectively act as a security ‘backstop’.
The summit is also expected to discuss a European plan to boost weapons shipments to Ukraine.
The ‘enhanced EU military support to Ukraine’ scheme would raise up to £25billion for 1.5 million artillery rounds, plus precision-strike missiles, air defence systems, drones and training for Ukrainian soldiers. The UK, and other non-EU states, would be invited to contribute.
But the plan appears in disarray amid claims France was leading a coalition of southern European countries trying to block it.
Mr Trump has resisted calls for such US military support, suggesting that closer economic ties between Washington and Kyiv, including a mineral deal worth billions of pounds, would effectively act as a security ‘backstop’
The two leaders met at the White House in Washington on Friday but their meeting quickly descended into heated words in the Oval Office
Sir Keir Starmer believes a Ukrainian peace deal with Russia will have to involve the US
The day before Sir Keir had led a charm offensive with Trump, securing support for the Chagos Islands deal and signs that he may be able to hold off US tariffs on British goods
In another vital gesture of UK support, Mr Zelensky will visit King Charles at Sandringham (Pictured in a previous audience held last July)
One EU diplomat reportedly described France as ‘the biggest spoiler on the one serious idea that’s on the table’.
The Lancaster House summit comes five days after Sir Keir said he would boost UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.
Sir Keir, the only leader to speak to both Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky since the feud, is expected to use the conference to put pressure on other European states to ‘step up’ and increase spending ‘for the good of collective security’.
Sir Keir is expected to hold one-on-one talks at No 10 with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before the summit starts. He is also due to chair a pre-summit phone chat with the three Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, before the conference.
The Baltic states, among the highest defence spenders in Nato as a percentage of GDP, are reportedly ‘very unhappy’ after Downing Street failed to invite their leaders to the summit.
In a sign of the growing rift between America and Europe, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, said that it had ‘become clear that the free world needs a new leader. It is up to us, Europeans, to take up this challenge.’
Mark Urban, BBC Newsnight’s former Diplomatic Editor, said though only 20 per cent of Ukraine’s military kit, ranging from boots to bullets, comes from the US, it relies on America for ‘high end’ warfighting technology.
‘The problems are with high end capabilities like Patriot missiles, targeting intelligence, and the difficulty of operating some systems without US data,’ he said.
‘Facing ever larger numbers of Russian drones and missiles the trajectory is not good for Ukraine.’
Wearing his trademark black top emblazoned with the Ukrainian military trident, Mr Zelensky yesterday told of his happiness that ‘his Majesty the King accepted my meeting’.
He described a previous audience with Charles as a ‘truly special moment for me, for our country’.
It comes days after the King invited Mr Trump to the UK for an unprecedented second state visit.
Russia’s glee at White House mauling
By Abul Taher
Russian leaders and public figures gleefully celebrated Donald Trump’s showdown with President Zelensky at the Oval Office on Friday.
Politicians and TV personalities cheered after seeing the Ukrainian leader being thrown out of the White House after being mauled by Mr Trump and Vice-President JD Vance.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former prime minister of Russia and now head of the Russian Security Council, said Mr Zelensky received a ‘strong slap on the wrist’.
He said on X: ‘For the first time, Trump told the cocaine clown the truth to his face: the Kyiv regime is playing with the Third World War. And the ungrateful pig received a strong slap on the wrist from the owners of the pigsty.’
Dmitry Medvedev, the former prime minister of Russia and now head of the Russian Security Council, said Mr Zelensky received a ‘strong slap on the wrist’
Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also praised Mr Trump for showing ‘restraint’ with the Ukrainian leader, whom she called a ‘scumbag’
Konstantin Kosachyov, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram: ‘Zelensky lost this round with a deafening rattle’
Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also praised Mr Trump for showing ‘restraint’ with the Ukrainian leader, whom she called a ‘scumbag’.
She said on Telegram: ‘I think Zelensky’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support. How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint.’
Konstantin Kosachyov, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram: ‘Zelensky lost this round with a deafening rattle.’
Russian lawmaker Andrei Klishas hailed the outcome of the Oval Office clash as ‘a brilliant result’, calling Mr Zelensky a ‘clown’.
Another politician, Alexei Zhuravlev, said that while Mr Zelensky ‘may have lost the trust of the United States completely… this doesn’t mean that the war will end’.
