The U.K., France, and Ukraine have agreed to work together on a cease-fire plan to present to the United States, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, ahead of an emergency summit to discuss ending the Russian–Ukrainian war.
“The U.K. and France are the most advanced on the thinking of this, and that is why President Macron and I are working on this plan, which we will then discuss with the U.S.,” Starmer told the BBC.
The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a heated exchange at the White House, in which Trump called the wartime leader “disrespectful” and said Zelensky should be more “thankful” for continued U.S. support.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people! You’re gambling with World War III!” Trump told Zelensky, as the two sat next to each other in the Oval Office.
“Have you said ‘Thank you’ once?” Vance chimed in. “You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the Unites States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.
Starmer, who met with Trump earlier last week, told the BBC he believes that Trump wants a “lasting peace” in Ukraine.
“I’ve spoken to President Trump a number of times. I’ve met him twice. . . . I’m clear in my mind that he does want lasting peace. He does want an end to be fighting in Ukraine,” he said.
While the U.K. and France have agreed to come together with Ukraine to discuss cease-fire plans, Starmer underscored that there can be no peace deal with Ukraine without a security guarantee from the U.S.
“I’ve always been clear that that is going to need a U.S. backstop, because I don’t think it would be a guarantee without it,“ he said.
“If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause and then [Russian President] Putin comes again,” the British leader warned. “That has happened in the past, I think it is a real risk, and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it is a lasting deal, not a temporary pause.”
He suggested that there would be three factors to a successful peace deal: arming the Ukrainians, providing a European element to guarantee security, and having the U.S. as a “backstop.”
Starmer’s comments came ahead of an emergency European summit on Sunday, during which the Labour Party leader is expected to push other European countries to pledge to support Ukraine, as the U.K. has done.
Meanwhile, Russia dismissed the idea of Europe helping to end the war, with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claiming that European leaders continue to “incite Kiev for a war against us.”
Lavrov, meanwhile, lauded Trump.
“U.S. President Donald Trump understands everything. . . . He is behaving correctly,” he said.