UK’s Starmer to try to revive hope for Ukraine peace at summit

LONDON – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will try to revive hope for peace in Ukraine at a meeting with Mr Volodymyr Zelensky and other Western leaders on March 2, two days after the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump clashed in Washington.

After a heated row with Mr Trump, who threatened to stop support for Ukraine after accusing Mr Zelensky of being ungrateful for US aid, the Ukrainian leader flew to London on March 1 to be

greeted on Downing Street with a long, warm hug from Mr Starmer

.

Mr Zelensky will receive a pledge of support from Mr Starmer and other European leaders, who face the stark question of whether they can take over the lead in providing Kyiv with weapons and finance before any peace talks begin.

Lacking the weaponry and depth of ammunition stocks of the United States, European leaders have so far offered expressions of support after the Zelensky row, with Germany calling for the release of €3 billion (S$4.2 billion) for Ukraine.

On March 2, Mr Starmer will hope they will offer more concrete means to support Ukraine and try to revive a possible peace deal with Russia by convincing Mr Trump that Europe can step up to defend itself.

Some leaders might also encourage Mr Zelensky to go back into talks with the US leader. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Polish President Andrzej Duda have urged the Ukrainian leader to find a way to restore the relationship.

“Three years on from Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we are at a turning point,” Mr Starmer said in a statement, offering his “unwavering support for Ukraine” by doubling down on providing capacity, training and aid to Kyiv.

“In partnership with our allies, we must intensify our preparations for the European element of security guarantees alongside continued discussions with the United States.”

At a meeting that has taken on added significance, Mr Starmer will start on March 2 by holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after welcoming Mr Zelensky on March 1 with a clear message of support for the visibly shaken leader.

They will then be joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, the EU’s Dr Ursula von der Leyen, Nato’s Mr Rutte and leaders from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania. Turkey’s foreign minister will also attend.

Bad end to good week

Mr Zelensky’s row with Mr Trump

on Feb 28 ended a week when Europe had appeared to be in a better position in its drive to encourage the US leader to continue to offer support to Ukraine after cordial visits to Washington by Mr Macron and Mr Starmer.

Both had pressed Mr Trump to offer what is known as “a backstop” to a potential European peacekeeping force in the event of a deal between Kyiv and Moscow.

While they had failed to secure a promise from Mr Trump, he had not totally rejected the idea.

But the rest of Europe is a long way from falling in behind the French and British leaders’ plans to safeguard a peace deal, and Mr Starmer will hope to take on a leadership role by suggesting Britain become a bridge between Europe and the US.

The March 2 meeting is a boost for Mr Starmer, whose team felt his meeting with Mr Trump this week had gone better than expected, with Mr Trump praising the British leader and even suggesting Ukraine could regain some lost territory in peace talks.

The Feb 28 disastrous meeting poisoned that mood, and March 2’s summit and an extraordinary EU one in Brussels next week will prove crucial to establishing whether European leaders can offer Ukraine something concrete and repair the damage done.

Italy’s Ms Meloni has also called for an emergency summit involving the US, European nations and allies to discuss how “to deal with the great challenges of today, starting with Ukraine”.

On March 2, European leaders are expected again to press for peace talks to include Ukraine, to strengthen Kyiv's position and to secure the necessary security guarantees to ensure a long-lasting peace and to deter any future Russian attack.

That would mean persuading Washington to offer a backstop, possibly in the form of air cover, intelligence and surveillance, and a greater as yet unspecified threat if Mr Putin again sought to take more territory.

Mr Starmer will update other leaders on his meeting with Mr Trump, when the US President praised his efforts to increase defence spending and offer to deploy peacekeeping troops.

For now, Mr Starmer wants to lower the temperature after the row in Mr Trump’s Oval Office.

Mr Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, told Reuters on March 1 that Europe needed to maintain its contacts with Mr Trump.

“Generally speaking, we don’t know where Trump will stand on all these issues in three or six months’ time,” he said. REUTERS