Ukraine is still on an “irreversible path” to joining NATO, Sir Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The UK and Ukrainian leaders spoke on the phone early on Friday, according to Downing Street.
The conversation came less than 24 hours after Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he didn’t see any way “that a country in Russia’s position” could allow Ukraine to join NATO.
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Mr Trump’s deputy Ukraine envoy John Coale also said on Thursday that NATO membership for Ukraine was still “on the table”.
The US president has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, and has said he wants to start negotiations.
He is also pushing for Europe to provide more support for Kyiv, and the US to spend less.
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‘Any bilateral negotiations about Ukraine without us – we will not accept’.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir began the conversation by “reiterating the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed”.
They added: “He was unequivocal that there could be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine.
“Ukraine needed strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future, and it could count on the UK to step up, he added.
“The prime minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to NATO, as agreed by allies at the Washington summit last year.
“Discussing the upcoming third anniversary of Ukraine’s courageous defence of its sovereignty in the face of Russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion, the leaders agreed that it would be an important moment to demonstrate international unity and support for Ukraine.
“The leaders also reflected on the prime minister’s visit to Kyiv last month, and the president updated on his plans at Munich Security Conference.
“They agreed to stay in close contact.”
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A statement on Mr Zelenskyy‘s social media said: “I informed Prime Minister Starmer about my discussion with President Trump and contacts with the American side. The Ukrainian and American teams must work together with Europeans and all our global partners to achieve concrete results.
“The security of each nation depends on strengthening our collective security. It is crucial that every new week brings tangible results that will ensure a lasting and reliable peace.
“We also discussed an action plan for the near future to shape a common strategy on security, economic cooperation, and political partnership.”
Starmer is finally standing up to Trump
After weeks of Donald Trump overturning long-established geopolitical relationships and exploding diplomatic expectations – the UK government is finally pushing back.
Abandoning our promises to Ukraine is a red line, even for a prime minister who has recently seemed more focused on getting back in the new president’s good books – in the hopes of avoiding punishing trade tariffs – than standing up for our old alliances.
Sir Keir Starmer’s early morning phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressing his “concrete support” for Ukraine, the promise of “strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future” and insistence that there should be no talks “about Ukraine without Ukraine” is a restatement of a long-held position not just for the UK but for all the western allies.
But earlier this week Mr Trump ripped up that consensus with his chummy 90-minute phone call with President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that Ukraine would have to give up territory and forsake its NATO ambitions in return for any peace deal.
Sir Keir’s strategy up to now has been to tip toe around his bombastic US counterpart, hoping that the rhetoric will ultimately become detached from reality. The UK didn’t utter a peep of complaint in response to the aggressive tariffs slapped on our close ally Canada.
Yet on Ukraine the PM is finally taking a more muscular stance – not just in his broader expression of support but specifically in his commitment to the country being on an “irreversible path to NATO, as agreed by allies at the Washington Summit last year”.
Joining NATO – where an attack on one is treated as an attack on all – would be the ultimate security guarantee for Ukraine. The Russians see it as the ultimate provocation.
Clearly NATO membership for Ukraine – without the support of its biggest member – would be nigh on impossible. But now the PM has shown he is willing to burn through his capital with Donald Trump in the interests of Ukraine. We don’t yet know what the mercurial president’s response will be; but it’s a decision which will be broadly supported in Westminster and beyond.
US officials appear set to meet with Russian counterparts at the Munich Security Conference to discuss an end to the fighting in Ukraine.
While Mr Trump said Ukraine is also invited to the talks, Kyiv has said it does not expect to have a discussion with Moscow today.
Mr Trump’s pronouncements on the talks – that Ukraine would not be able to return to its 2014 borders nor join NATO – have drawn criticism from Russia hawks and supporters of Ukraine.
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John Bolton, who was the president’s national security adviser in his first term, said: “Endless concessions to Moscow are a threat to American national security.
“This week the Trump [administration] blew up the NATO position on Ukraine and the Belovezha Accords, which broke up the Soviet Union. This puts every other former republic of the Soviet Union at risk of Russian aggression.”
According to the readout of the call between Sir Keir and Mr Zelenskyy, it does not appear that they discussed the missile strike on the Chernobyl nuclear powerstation overnight.