6 hours Ago
THE UK FOREIGN secretary has said it would be “wrong” for Vladimir Putin to place conditions on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. David Lammy said a pause in fighting would be a “first step” to allow talks to start on “a full settlement” to end the war. Talks between the US and Ukraine produced the idea of a 30-day truce, with the US president sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to discuss the plans with the Kremlin today.
The Russian leader yesterday said “the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it”, but at a press conference in Moscow he added that “there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners”. Lammy, who is meeting other G7 foreign affairs ministers in Canada, said there is an “opportunity” for “a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. “The US and Ukraine have called for a full, immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire,” he told The Mirror.
“This would be a first step so that talks can start on a full settlement that protects Ukraine’s security and sovereignty. President Zelensky has shown that Ukraine is the party of peace.” He then added: “It would be wrong for Putin to lay conditions.
Our support for Ukraine, and that of other partners, remains ironclad.” Putin and his allies have suggested Ukraine wants the ceasefire to allow its forces to regroup and rearm at a time when they are on the back foot and being forced out of the Kursk region after their incursion into Russian territory. remain “serious questions” he needs to discuss with the United States, possibly directly with President Donald Trump.
Putin said he was “for” the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire “but that there are nuances” and that he had “serious questions” about how it would work. “I think we need to talk to our American colleagues..
. Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,” he told reporters. Trump has said he would be happy to meet with Putin to discuss the details, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rebuked the Russian president’s response as “very manipulative”.
“We now have all heard from Russia Putin’s very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. Putin was due to meet Witkoff yesterday, a Kremlin adviser said. Downing Street has made clear the UK supports Donald Trump’s warnings of “very bad” financial consequences for Moscow if Putin fails to co-operate with peace talks.
Asked whether the UK would ramp up sanctions if the Kremlin rejected the ceasefire proposal, Downing Street said “ongoing US, UK and European pressure” would cripple Putin’s income streams. “President Trump’s leadership to suffocate Russia’s economy is welcome,” a Number 10 spokesman said. After G7 talks conclude today, British prime minister Keir Starmer will convene a summit of the “coalition of the willing” tomorrow.
Starmer said on yesteday that a peace deal in Ukraine is needed to ensure the Russian president’s war does not maintain a “choke hold” on Europe and stressed the need to deter him from attempting to conquer his neighbour again. He said: “I profoundly believe that if we don’t secure a just peace and a lasting peace, then that insecurity, which we’ve already felt, will continue. “And that means, here, higher prices, higher bills, the cost-of-living crisis going on for even longer – if you like, a choke hold on our future, which will be much, much harder for us to tackle.
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