Chair鈥檚 Statement: Leaders call on Ukraine, 15 March 2025
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's statement as Chair for the Leaders call on Ukraine in London on 15 March 2025.
Today, I hosted a call with counterparts from across Europe, as well as the NATO Secretary General and the leaders of the EU Commission, EU Council, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss our support for Ukraine.
We underlined our unwavering commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine, both now and long into the future.
We welcomed the efforts of President Trump, President Zelenskyy and their negotiating teams to secure the remarkable breakthrough on the peace agreement in Jeddah this week, and President Zelenskyy鈥檚 commitment to the US proposal for an immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, subject to agreement by Russia.聽
We agreed that now the ball was in Russia鈥檚 court, and President Putin must prove he is serious about peace and sign up to a ceasefire on equal terms. The Kremlin鈥檚 dithering and delay over President Trump鈥檚 ceasefire proposal, and Russia鈥檚 continued barbaric attacks on Ukraine, run entirely counter to President Putin鈥檚 stated desire for peace.聽
We reaffirmed our commitment to Ukraine鈥檚 long-term security, and agreed that Ukraine must be able to defend itself and deter future Russian aggression.
Robust and credible security arrangements are the best way to ensure that any deal ends in a lasting peace. We agreed military planners would convene again in the UK this week to progress practical plans for how our militaries can support Ukraine鈥檚 future security. We will build up Ukraine鈥檚 own defences and armed forces, and be ready to deploy as a 鈥楥oalition of the Willing鈥� in the event of a peace deal, to help secure Ukraine on the land, at sea, and in the sky.聽
In the event of a ceasefire, we emphasised the need for strong monitoring arrangements, to ensure that any violations of a deal are identified and called out.聽聽
We agreed that in the case that President Putin refused to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, we would need to increase our efforts to strengthen Ukraine, weaken Russia鈥檚 war machine, and ratchet up pressure on President Putin to convince him to come to the negotiating table. To deliver this, we will accelerate our military support, tighten our sanctions on Russia鈥檚 revenues, and聽continue to explore all lawful routes to ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has done to Ukraine.
We agreed to continue these discussions as a group in the coming days to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.