Sir Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that there should be “no more ifs and buts” and that he must agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Ukraine and European leaders have agreed to an unconditional 30-day truce with the backing of US President Donald Trump, threatening President Vladimir Putin with new “massive” sanctions if he failed to comply.
The announcement was made by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine in Kyiv, after they held a phone call with Mr Trump. The US leader, who wants a rapid peace, has not commented publicly on the course of action.
“So all of us here together with the US are calling Putin out. If he is serious about peace, then he has a chance to show it,” Sir Keir said afterwards.
“No more ifs and buts, no more conditions and delays.”
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Kyiv was ready for a “full unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea” starting next week.
He added:“If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations.”
Volodymyr Zelensky today hosted an unprecedented meeting in Kyiv between Sir Keir Starmer; Emmanuel Macron, the French president; Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, and Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister.
Mr Sybiha said the five leaders held a “fruitful call” with Donald Trump, who has urged Putin to agree to a month-long pause in fighting.
The Russian president announced a three-day ceasefire to coincide with Friday’s Victory Day parade in Moscow, but has repeatedly rejected a longer truce saying it would only benefit Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and its allies are waiting for Russian’s response after demanding Putin agree to a 30-day ceasefire beginning on Monday.
“We share a common view: an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire is needed for at least 30 days,” the Ukrainian president wrote in a post on X. “We propose it begin on Monday, May 12. We are waiting for Russia’s response.”
Mr Zelensky added that he and Sir Keir Starmer – as well as the leaders of France, Germany and Poland – had spoken with Donald Trump at the end of a meeting in Kyiv today, and that it was a “good conversation – positive and concrete”.
The 30-day ceasefire proposal was first put forward by the United States during peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin has accused European countries of making contradictory and confrontational statements, after leaders demanded a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and threatened Russia with “massive” sanctions if it failed to comply.
“We hear many contradictory statements from Europe. They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press secretary, told reporters.
Vladimir Putin “has repeatedly said that he is ready for contacts with any leaders”, Peskov said. “And he is open to interaction, to dialogue with any leaders to the extent that the leaders themselves are ready.”
On Friday Peskov was quoted as saying that Russia supported the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire, but only with due consideration of “a large number of nuances”.
In separate remarks aired on Saturday, he suggested that Western military assistance for Ukraine would have to stop in order for a ceasefire to happen. “Otherwise it will be an advantage for Ukraine,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron ruled out agreeing to halting military aid to Kyiv, saying the proposed ceasefire would have no preconditions.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has ruled out agreeing to halt military aid to Ukraine during a potential 30-day ceasefire period.
“There is no precondition. Neither stopping delivery of arms to protect and resist for you [Ukraine],” he told Volodymyr Zelensky.
The French president said if Russia did not “comply” with the proposed ceasefire, “it must face consequences with additional sanctions and further support to Ukraine”.
“And we have to prepare a new package of sanctions which should not be business as usual,” he added.
Mr Macron was earlier asked what Ukraine and its allies would do if Russia demanded a halt on military aid to Kyiv as a condition for agreeing to the proposed truce.
Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of a month-long ceasefire, saying the West would use the break in fighting to rearm Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer said he is supporting Ukraine about the same values that the Allies fought for in the Second World War.
“This week we have been celebrating 80 years since the end of the Second World War,” the Prime Minister said at a meeting in Kyiv.
“What that war was about were the values of freedom and democracy and the right of countries to make their own decisions. Their sovereign right to do so.”
“Those are the same values that we are addressing here today.”
Sir Keir Starmer said “one country started this illegal conflict” and “only one country stands in the way of resolving it peacefully” during a meeting of Ukraine and its allies in Kyiv.
Speaking from Kyiv, the Prime Minister said: “It is an important moment because, as Volodymyr has just said, there is this ceasefire-for-30-days proposal that is very clearly now on the table.
“Volodymyr, I think you first — with courage — put forward this proposal probably two months ago now, as the way forward? Emmanuel [Macron] and I have been discussing it intensively, including this week, and pushing the case of 30 days.
“Other allies in Europe have joined that, and of course the US position is now absolutely clear. So we have unity in relation to the proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
“That is a really important moment of this conflict that we should focus on in this meeting of the coalition of the willing, and remind ourselves that only one country started this illegal conflict, and that was Russia and Putin, and only one country stands in the way of resolving it peacefully, and that is Russia and Putin.”
Sir Keir Starmer said the meeting in Kyiv between Ukraine and European allies showed “the strength of our unity”.
“It is a very important symbolic meeting showing the strength of our unity,” the Prime Minister said.
“And it’s timely because this awful conflict has been going on now for over three years, and this week we have been celebrating 80 years since the end of the second world war, VE Day has been celebrated across Europe.
“What the war was about were the values of freedom and democracy and the right of countries to make their own decisions, their sovereign right to do so.
“Those are the same values that we are addressing here today, and so it is timely, it is important and I pay tribute to the courage and resilience of the Ukrainians that have fought this conflict for three long years.”
Sir Keir Starmer said that European allies “together with the US” are “calling Putin out”, as they attempted to ramp up pressure on Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
Speaking from Kyiv, the Prime Minister said that allies will “ramp up sanctions” if the Russian president “turns his back on peace” as he and allies backed plans for a 30-day ceasefire.
The Prime Minister and his Ukrainian, French, German and Polish counterparts spoke with Donald Trump earlier on Saturday to update him on their progress on the so-called coalition of the willing.
Speaking from Kyiv, he said the five leaders in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday had agreed on the need for an “unconditional ceasefire”.
The Prime Minister said “all of us here, together with US, are calling Putin out”.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said: “What’s happening with Poland, Germany and Great Britain is a historic moment for European defence and toward a greater independence for our security.
“Obviously, for Ukraine and all of us. It’s a new era. It’s a Europe that sees itself as a power.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday there was “absolute unity” between Kyiv’s allies on a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
“The position we’ve now got to today is absolute unity across a whole range of countries around the world, including the United States, that there must be that 30-day unconditional ceasefire,” Starmer told a press conference in Kyiv.
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Ukraine-Russia war live: Europe and Kyiv demand 30-day ceasefire from Monday – The Telegraph
