British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would call on Western allies to undertake economic efforts to "paralyze" the Russian military machine amid concerns about US President Donald Trump's support for Ukraine, PA media and DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Starmer and representatives of the countries of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" will meet in London on Friday.
The consultations will take place after the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump last week failed to agree on the provision of "Tomahawk" cruise missiles to Kiev. In addition, there have been reports that Zelensky is under pressure to accept Moscow's demands. V. "Financial Times" published an article in which he described the meeting between the leaders of the United States and Ukraine as "a hassle".
Zelensky publicly indicated that the conversation at the White House was "positive", but hinted that Trump did not want to upset the Russians before meeting Putin in person. "In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians before meeting them," Zelensky noted.
Starmer said that he wanted Ukraine to be put in "the strongest possible position" before, during and after the ceasefire under any conditions. However, according to the British Prime Minister, Putin is not serious about peace.
"We must be resolute in our support for Ukraine and I commit that I will step up our efforts to paralyze Putin's war machine," Starmer said today. The British Prime Minister also noted that Russia is using delaying tactics and that time has shown that only Ukraine has a serious desire for peace.
"Tyrants like Putin only respond to force. We must increase the pressure on his economy and defense industry, as we did last week with a massive package of sanctions, until he is ready to make peace," Starmer said.
As winter approaches, we will continue to increase our support - humanitarian, financial and military - so that Ukraine can defend its people and sovereignty, the British Prime Minister assured.
"We cannot forget that Ukraine's future is our future, and the coming days and weeks will be decisive for the future of European security," Starmer concluded.