Starmer to present proposals for a peace deal to world leaders
Peter Walker
As we just mentioned, Keir Starmer has warned that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to “play games” with the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine, as he prepares to present proposals for a peace deal to a coalition of about 25 world leaders.
The UK prime minister will host a meeting on Saturday of the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations that have agreed to help keep the peace in Ukraine. He will seek to pile pressure on the Russian president to “finally come to the table” and “stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine” after Kyiv agreed this week to an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
European nations, the EU Commission, Nato, Canada, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand are expected to take part in the virtual meeting and provide updates on the aid they could provide towards enforcing a peace deal.
It came as Putin praised Donald Trump for “doing everything” to improve relations between Moscow and Washington, after Trump said the US has had “very good and productive discussions” with Putin in recent days.
Putin told a meeting of his security heads that improved relations with the US were now on the agenda. “We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something of what was basically destroyed by the previous US administration,” he said.
Key events
Explainer: Where does the phrase ‘coalition of the willing’ come from?
Peter Walker
Few resonant phrases are repeated in politics without a deliberate reason, and Keir Starmer’s use of “coalition of the willing” could well have been intended as a reminder to the US diplomatic and defence community: we helped you out; now return the favour.
The most famous, or infamous, coalition of the willing was the 30 nations who publicly gave at least some support to George W Bush’s US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Starmer’s decision to reintroduce the term came during a BBC interview on 2 March where he unveiled an Anglo-French plan to work with the US on a peace deal for Ukraine.
Other partners were expected, he added. “That is a step in the right direction. This is not an exclusion – the more the better in this. But we need to move to a quicker, more agile way of going forward, and I think that is a coalition of the willing states.”
Italy would want a “clear UN mandate” before committing troops to a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, a member of Italy’s ruling party has said.
Giangiacomo Calovini, an MP from the ruling Brothers of Italy party and a member of the Italian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme his country was not opposed to peacekeeping operations.
He said:
Absolutely we are not against sending Italian troops to help a population, but I think at this moment probably there are no troops that are able to solve the problem in Ukraine.
We can only send troops if there is a clear UN mandate and for now, this is impossible.”
He added:
I think it is too early and we have to wait for it. After a decision from UN headquarters, there is no problem for Italy, but now it’s really, really too early for us.”
Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Putin’s first prime minister and now an opponent of the Russian president, said Moscow was only interested in a conditional ceasefire, reports the PA news agency.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
He rejected this proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, he wants conditional, he wants a ceasefire on his terms.”
Asked whether Putin would accept peacekeepers, Kasyanov said:
I don’t believe this, but he could accept – if his terms and conditions are accepted, for instance the stop of military supplies (from the west) – he could agree to just Indians and Brazilians and other friendly countries, troops from those countries but not from Nato nations or from Europe at all.”
He added that western sanctions were having an effect on Russia’s economy, and would get worse by the end of the year, saying:
By the end of the year, he will be a different Putin and would be more willing to negotiate.”
Giangiacomo Calovini, an MP from the ruling party in Italy, was unable to say whether Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni would take part in Saturday’s call with the “coalition of the willing”.
According to the PA news agency, he said:
I think there’s a discussion about it and I think a few hours ago there’s some contact between your prime minister and Giorgia Meloni because they are talking and trying to understand, which is the problem of the meeting of today.”
He added:
Our position now is that if the meeting is only to talk about the troops in Ukraine, it is not important now.
It doesn’t mean we don’t send our troops (to) Ukraine, but we think it’s too early to talk about this topic.”
Peter Walker
In comments released by Downing Street before the summit, Starmer lambasted Putin over what he called “empty words and pointless conditions”.
“We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal,” Starmer said. “The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.
“If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace, if they don’t, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.
“Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place, but the world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions.”
Peter Walker
Downing Street refused to set out precisely what goals the prime minister hoped to get from Saturday morning’s meeting, saying it was “a fast-moving situation” with a large number of countries involved.
UK officials had expected to be able to release the full list of attenders in advance, but were seemingly prevented from doing so by the complexity of organising such a large event at speed. There were reports that the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, might not attend the meeting due to worries about the Anglo-French plans to try to guarantee a long-term peace deal.
Starmer will be expected to set out to the assembled leaders details of a plan, spearheaded by him and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the wake of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous White House meeting with Trump two weeks ago. Starmer and Macron spoke one-to-one on Friday evening in advance of the summit, Downing Street said.
Ukrainian air defences destroyed 130 out of 178 drones launched by Russia during its latest overnight strike, Kyiv’s air force said on Saturday.
It added that another 38 drones had been “locationally lost”, typically a reference to electronic jamming, and that Russian forces had also fired two ballistic missiles.
Analysis: Putin makes clear Russia will only play ball by his rules
Pjotr Sauer
For once, the US president and European leaders were on the same page.
Grasping for a familiar metaphor, a chorus of western heads of state declared this week that “the ball was in Russia’s court” after Ukraine agreed in talks with the US on Tuesday to an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
Rather than making a play, Vladimir Putin on Thursday picked up the ball, scrawled a fresh set of conditions across it, and lobbed it back – insisting the game could not move forward until the other side played by his rules.
“The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely support it,” Putin said, sitting alongside his longtime ally Alexander Lukashenko at a press conference in the Kremlin.
It was the “but” that followed that did all the heavy lifting.
“There are questions that we need to discuss, and I think we need to talk them through with our American colleagues and partner,” he added, suggesting that Ukraine should neither rearm nor mobilise and that western military aid to Kyiv be halted during the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the message was clear: Russia had no intention of halting its own rearmament. Ukraine fears that Putin is preparing to do exactly what he accuses Kyiv of: exploiting the ceasefire to rearm and intensify his offensive if talks fall apart, as Russian forces press their advantage on the ground.
Read more:
Starmer to present proposals for a peace deal to world leaders
Peter Walker
As we just mentioned, Keir Starmer has warned that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to “play games” with the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine, as he prepares to present proposals for a peace deal to a coalition of about 25 world leaders.
The UK prime minister will host a meeting on Saturday of the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations that have agreed to help keep the peace in Ukraine. He will seek to pile pressure on the Russian president to “finally come to the table” and “stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine” after Kyiv agreed this week to an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
European nations, the EU Commission, Nato, Canada, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand are expected to take part in the virtual meeting and provide updates on the aid they could provide towards enforcing a peace deal.
It came as Putin praised Donald Trump for “doing everything” to improve relations between Moscow and Washington, after Trump said the US has had “very good and productive discussions” with Putin in recent days.
Putin told a meeting of his security heads that improved relations with the US were now on the agenda. “We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something of what was basically destroyed by the previous US administration,” he said.
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Today, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will urge about 25 world leaders to make concrete commitments to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Vladimir Putin to accept the ceasefire.
The British prime minister hopes the video call will see the so-called “coalition of the willing” come up with firm commitments of help for Ukraine in the run-up to any peace agreement and, after that, to ensure the nation’s security.
More on that shortly. First, here’s what else is making headlines:
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he sees a “good chance to end this war quickly and secure peace” after Kyiv accepted a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire but Moscow said it would agree only if certain conditions were met. The Ukrainian president also urged the US and other allies to apply pressure on Moscow, reiterating his belief that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will delay reaching a ceasefire for as long as possible. “If there is a strong response from the United States, they will not let them play around,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “And if there are steps that Russia is not afraid of, they will delay the process.” He said separately that Putin “will try to drag everyone into endless discussions … while his guns continue to kill people”.
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Vladimir Putin called for beleaguered Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to “surrender”, saying they would be treated with dignity. Donald Trump urged Putin to spare the lives of the troops while he said his envoy had held “very good and productive” talks with the Russian leader on the proposed 30-day ceasefire. Moscow’s rapid counteroffensive in Kursk over the past week has recaptured much of the territory that Ukraine seized last August in the western Russian border region and hoped to use as a bargaining chip in peace talks. “We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call,” Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television on Friday. “If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment.” Trump said “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were “completely surrounded by the Russian military and in a very bad and vulnerable position”. Putin, meanwhile, praised Trump for “doing everything” to improve relations between Moscow and Washington.
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Ukraine’s military leadership denied the battlefield claims. “There is no threat of our units being encircled,” Ukraine’s general staff posted on social media. Zelenskyy also gave a more sober assessment, saying: “The situation in the Kursk region is obviously very difficult.” He insisted the campaign still had value. Sources in Ukraine and military analysts also said Trump’s claims of a mass encirclement in Kursk were not accurate.
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G7 foreign ministers warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepted the ceasefire “on equal terms”, saying sanctions could include “caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means”. France and Germany accused Russia of seeking to block the truce, while Starmer said Moscow has shown “complete disregard” for Trump’s proposal.
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A Russian missile struck a residential area in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, injuring 11 people including two children, the regional governor said. Serhiy Lysak posted photos on Telegram showing damage to high-rise apartment buildings, private homes and a building that appeared to house a number of businesses. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration in the city – Zelenskyy’s home town – said two areas took direct hits. One of the sites hit was a night club, he said. In the southern region of Kherson, Russian guided bombs struck a series of targets including a residential area in Kherson city, killing one person, the regional governor said on Telegram. Near the Black Sea city of Odesa, Russian drones attacked the nearby port of Chornomorsk, cutting power to its residents, the regional governor said.
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EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas would propose that the 27-country bloc supply up to €40bn ($44bn) in new military aid to Ukraine, diplomatic sources have said. Senior EU diplomats, meanwhile, agreed on Friday to a six-month extension of sanctions against about 2,000 Russians including Putin and many senior politicians and businesspeople.
– With agencies
