Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed to show “united leadership in support of Ukraine” when they separately meet Donald Trump this week.
The UK prime minister and the French president spoke on Sunday afternoon to reiterate the importance of Ukraine being at the centre of any negotiations to end the war, Downing Street said.
Their call before an important week for both leaders highlights their desire to present a united European position against Russia’s aggression, after the US president launched extraordinary attacks on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dismissing the president of Ukraine as a “dictator without elections”.
Russian and US representatives agreed to start working towards ending the war without involving Ukraine in discussions, which prompted international outcry.
On top of this, the White House has also been putting pressure on the Ukrainian leader to sign a $500bn (£395bn) minerals deal that would give the US half of Ukraine’s mineral resources, in an agreement Zelenskyy has not signed.
Trump added to tensions on Friday when he said Starmer and Macron “haven’t done anything” to end the war in Ukraine.
Despite this, the prime minister and French president agreed in their call: “The UK and Europe must continue stepping up to meet their security needs and show united leadership in support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, which they would both discuss in the US in the coming week,” Downing Street said.
Reflecting on the upcoming trip that will be a test of his premiership, Starmer told reporters in Glasgow: “At the centre of our discussions this week will obviously be the importance of the special relationship between us, and obviously the situation in Ukraine and other issues of common concern.”
Starmer also used his speech at the Scottish Labour conference to echo his support for Ukraine. “I’ve seen first-hand the devastation Putin has caused. Mark my words: what I have seen only makes me more determined to stand up for Ukraine,” he said.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said Trump was right to re-establish links with Putin to set up peace talks to end the war as there could be “no negotiated peace without Russia”.
Zelenskyy, who was democratically elected in May 2019, said that he would be willing to “give up” being president of Ukraine in exchange for peace, when asked at a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday. “Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine,” he said.
He added: “If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine.”
Alex Sobel, the Labour MP for Leeds Central and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Ukraine, said: “[Zelenskyy] knows what is best for his country. He has shown he is a great democrat and puts his country and its future security before himself.”
But Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, told the Guardian: “Shame on Donald Trump for his betrayal of Ukraine. President Zelenskyy should never have been put in this position.
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“Yet it is no surprise that Zelenskyy is willing to step down if it brings the peace and security Ukraine craves and deserves. That is because he is the exact opposite of Donald Trump: a selfless, patriotic, true leader.
“The UK government should continue to support Zelenskyy in every way we can, and ensure that Ukraine is in the driving seat of its own future – not Putin or Trump.”
In light of Trump’s demands, officials including Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US, had been preparing Starmer to use his visit to Washington to confirm a timeline to raise UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.
Phillipson described the 2.5% target as “ambitious”, and urged European allies to “step up alongside that”, although she indicated it could be unlikely for the prime minister to set out a full plan this week for the UK’s defence spending increase.
She said: “Let’s be clear: 2.5% is ambitious. We will get there, but it is ambitious, and this is also in the context of the public finances, which, let’s be honest, were left in a devastating state by the Conservatives – a £22bn black hole, no credible plan for this nonsense that they claim around how they were going to reach 2.5%.”
Starmer’s meeting with Trump will come three days after the US president meets Macron, who will be the first European leader to travel to Washington since Trump’s inauguration.
Phillipson played down the significance of Starmer not being the first European leader to meet Trump. “I don’t think that really matters,” she told Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme.
