12 hours Ago By PA Media: UK News
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to return to the Commons on Monday for the first time since his blitz of high-stakes diplomatic action across the Atlantic and in London. MPs will likely hear a statement from the Prime Minister following his meeting with Donald Trump in Washington DC, as well as the emergency defence summit of European leaders he convened at the weekend. Sir Keir told European powers they must realise it is “time to act”, and warned they stand at a “crossroads in history”, following the Sunday gathering at Lancaster House, a mansion near Buckingham Palace.
He committed £1.6 billion towards helping Ukraine purchase 5,000 missiles for its defence, and invited European leaders to join a “coalition of the willing” led by Britain and France, which is aimed at enforcing any future peace deal. America is attempting to negotiate an end to hostilities directly with Russia but Sir Keir has insisted European countries must play a key role in enforcing a peace deal and deter Vladimir Putin from breaking it.
The Prime Minister and France’s president Emmanuel Macron are also said to be proposing a one-month ceasefire plan which they will present to the US as part of an attempt to repair relations with the Trump administration, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky also joined the meeting. The Ukrainian president received a warm welcome to 10 Downing Street on Saturday that contrasted with his fractious encounter in the Oval Office a day before.
That led to him cutting short a trip to the US in which he was supposed to sign a minerals deal with Mr Trump, exchanging rights to natural resources for further American military support. The bust-up between the two presidents in the Oval Office that was broadcast around the world saw them – and American vice president JD Vance – talking over one another in raised voices. Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of “gambling with world war three” and said he had not expressed enough thanks for US aid in defending his country against Mr Putin’s invasion.
The spat exposed a raw divide between the US and its European Nato allies, who rallied to Mr Zelensky’s side. Sir Keir told the BBC he had sought to act as a “bridge” and end the feuding, after he held multiple phone calls with Mr Trump, Mr Zelensky and Mr Macron over the weekend. The Prime Minister only returned from America early on Friday morning.
In his trip to Washington DC, Sir Keir appeared to win Mr Trump’s backing for the Chagos Islands deal, and an indication he could stave off the threat of US tariffs on British goods, after inviting the Republican for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK. In other developments over the weekend: – Ukraine’s President Zelensky told reporters he is prepared to stand down in exchange for Nato membership, and suggested he is ready to sign the minerals deal with the US. – Canadian prime minister Mr Trudeau will meet the King, and raise the US president’s threat to annex Canada – a Commonwealth nation – with the monarch.
– President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said she will present a plan to “rearm” Europe in the coming days. – Chancellor Rachel Reeves signed off on a £2.26 billion loan scheme to help Ukraine buy weapons and fund its reconstruction after the war, which will be repaid with the profits of frozen Russian assets.
– The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to bring forward emergency legislation on Monday in Parliament to begin the seizure of Russian assets frozen in European banks..
