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Ukraine has insisted they will not accept a ceasefire deal ‘made behind our backs’
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Sir Keir Starmer is set to join a European crisis summit to face down the threat of Russia after the US barred European leaders from peace talks with Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.
France is preparing to host the last-minute, informal meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte following comments by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the continent should form an “army of Europe” as it could not rely on the US for defence.
Sir Keir said: “This is a once-in-a-generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia.”
It comes after Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine revealed Europe will be consulted but will ultimately be excluded by the US during peace talks.
Asked if they would be present, Keith Kellogg said he was from “the school of realism, and that is not going to happen”.
David Lammy has warned that failure to deal with Russia over Ukraine would cost the UK billions, as the US said Europe would be excluded from talks over the country’s future.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the foreign secretary said Ukraine had an “irreversible pathway towards Nato” and pointed to the approximate 7 per cent of gross domestic product that countries spent on defence in the Cold War, against the current UK rate of 2.3 per cent.
“Don’t think that not meeting the challenge now somehow saves us money down the line,” Mr Lammy said on Saturday. “If Ukraine were to fail, the costs would be considerably more.”
And he called on Donald Trump, who famously wrote a book titled The Art of the Deal, to realise a good “deal” was working with Ukraine.
Foreign secretary calls on US president to realise a good ‘deal’ is working with Kyiv
Keir Starmer is set to join a European crisis summit to face down the threat of Russia after the US barred European leaders from peace talks with Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.
France is preparing to host the last-minute, informal meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte following comments by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the continent should form an “army of Europe” as it could not rely on the US for defence.
Sir Keir said: “This is a once-in-a-generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia.”
“It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia.
Sir Keir described the meeting as a “once in a generation moment” to face down the threat of Russia
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said they have discussed Kyiv’s vision of a path to peace in Ukraine with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi.
Peace talks on ending the Russian war in Ukraine are to start in the coming days between Kyiv and Moscow negotiators and senior officials from US president Donald Trump’s administration, but without EU officials.
“We met with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi together with Andriy Yermak to reaffirm mutual respect for territorial integrity,” Mr Sybiha said on X about the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“We discussed the development of bilateral relations and trade. We also shared Ukraine’s vision of the path to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he has directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on American interests.
“I didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest,” Mr Zelensky said yesterday.
The proposal, which was at the centre of Mr Zelensky’s talks with US vice president JD Vance on the sidelines in Munich Security Conference on Friday, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior official familiar with the talks.
The proposal focused on how the US could use Kyiv’s rare earth minerals “as compensation” for support already given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and as payment for future aid, current and former senior Ukrainian officials said speaking anonymously so they could speak freely.
Mr Zelensky’s decision to reject a deal, at least for now, was described as “short-sighted” by a senior White House official.
With President Donald Trump entering office for the second time, Nato spending is once again under scrutiny as the United States warns European countries must dig deeper into their pockets.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday the US would “no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship” with allies on Ukraine, and warned that other Nato Members needed to spend more on defence.
It comes as Mr Trump announced he had a “highly productive” phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, which he said would initiate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Other Nato nations have criticised leaving Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the call, with the UK’s defence minister John Healey reiterating that “there can be no negotiation about Ukraine, without Ukraine”.
With President Donald Trump entering office for the second time, Nato spending is once again under scrutiny as the United States warns European countries must dig deeper into their pockets.
Europe must unite to form a new common Army to guard against the mounting threat from Russia, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
His comments came amid growing fears that Donald Trump plans to weaken US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and water down its commitment to Nato.
Mr Zelensky’s comments are reinforced by a separate warning by General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former supreme allied commander of Europe.
His comments came amid growing fears that Donald Trump plans to weaken US support for Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Ukraine had “essentially agreed” to a rare earth minerals deal with the US.
“I told them that I want the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that.”
China, with whom Trump has threatened a trade war, is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals. Both the U.S and Europe have sought to reduce their dependence on Beijing.
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Known as the bread basket of Europe, Ukraine also boasts vast mineral resources
It is still too early to say when Donald Trump’s plan for Ukraine will be ready, his envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said yesterday.
Stating that the Trump administration has only been in power for 25 days, Mr Kellogg added it was nevertheless vital to involve Russian president Vladimir Putin in talks to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“Whether you like it or not, you have to talk to adversaries,” said Mr Kellogg at the Munich Security Conference.
“As a great Secretary of Defence, General Mattis, once said: I may not like this son of a bitch, but I got to talk to him,” he added.
Mr Kellogg also said the United States wanted to break Russia’s alliances with North Korea, China and Iran.
There have been many words used over the past couple of days to describe the shabby deal Trump is planning to do with president Vladimir Putin. Few have captured the emotions of many, more than the words of a British official, who said it had gone down “like a bowl of cold sick”.
Certainly, this week’s pronouncements by Trump and his acolyte Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News anchor who is now the US secretary of defence, have generated anger and despair in Ukraine and among its supporters. But they have also confirmed, with perfect clarity, what has been clear to European members of Nato and Canada since Trump returned to the White House: America, for 80 years since the end of the Second World War, the guarantor of European security, can no longer be trusted as an ally.
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Russia is a cruel, vindictive and murderous state and has Moldova, Georgia and Romania in its sight, says former deputy Supreme Allied Commander Sir Richard Shirreff. Now that Trump has paved the way for Putin to execute the next phase of his plan, Europe need to make the sacrifices necessary to protect itself
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the time has come for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”, because the US may no longer be counted on to support the continent.
Ramping up his desire for a more muscular Europe, Mr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s nearly three-year fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion has proved that a foundation exists for the creation of a European army — an idea long discussed among some leaders on the continent.”I really believe that time has come,” he said.
“The armed forces of Europe must be created.”
Mr Zelensky has sought greater military and economic support from the European Union for years and repeatedly warned that other parts of Europe could be vulnerable to Russia’s expansionist ambitions.
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