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Ukraine will work with Europe to draw up a plan to “stop the fighting” with Russia before presenting a blueprint for peace to US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of a London summit of European leaders, Starmer said a European “coalition of the willing” — led by the UK and France — would then offer to put troops on the ground in Ukraine to defend any ceasefire.
However, Starmer admitted he had not received assurances from Trump that the US would provide a military “backstop” to such a European force — a protection the UK leader insists is essential to deter Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine again.
Starmer held talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and then discussed with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron a potential way forward after Friday’s debacle in the White House, when the US president clashed with the Ukrainian leader.
Starmer, speaking on the BBC, said: “We have agreed that the UK, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. Then we will discuss that plan with the US.”
Starmer said an agreement between European leaders on a security guarantee for Ukraine would have to be led by a “coalition of the willing” when it came to providing support.
“We’ve got to find those countries in Europe that are prepared to be more forward leaning, rather than move at the pace of every single member, every single country in Europe, which would in the end be a slow pace,” Starmer said.
“That is not an exclusion — the more the better — but we need to move to a quicker, more agile way forward.”
Starmer also said that he had taken an “important step forward” towards smoothing tensions and reaching an agreement between Trump and Zelenskyy during several phone calls with both leaders over the weekend.
He added that he was certain that “President Trump wants lasting peace” and could be trusted, saying: “He clearly said he would have our backs.”
“European countries have to do more and provide a security guarantee and that’s what I’m discussing with President Macron and others today . . . but I’ve always been clear that that will need a US backstop,” he said.
Starmer said UK and US teams were discussing ways in which Trump could help to secure any peace deal, although the US president has always made it clear he sees that as a responsibility of European nations.
“Lots of people are urging me to choose between the US on the one hand and the EU on the other. Wrong choice,” he said. “As a country we’ve never done that, as a Labour party we’ve never done that and we shouldn’t do that now.”
He added: “We are in this position of having a special relationship with the US, having a strong relationship with Europe, we need to maintain both.”
Downing Street is expecting attendees at Sunday’s summit to include Olaf Scholz of Germany, Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Donald Tusk of Poland, as well as Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, and Mark Rutte, Nato secretary-general. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan are also expected to attend.
The summit will take place at Lancaster House, a 19th-century mansion close to Buckingham Palace in central London. Starmer will also hold calls with the leaders of the three Baltic states.
A French official said last week that early indications were that the UK and France were likely to provide the biggest contingents in any post-truce stabilisation force, but there might be offers of help from some other countries.
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