Keir Starmer has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin must not play games over a potential ceasefire to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It's over three years since Putin invaded Ukraine in what has become the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
A ceasefire deal which would halt the war for 30 days has been proposed by the US and has Ukrainian support, but Putin said that while he 'absolutely supports' the idea of a ceasefire he had some conditions he wanted.
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Putin spoke about Ukrainian troops that had launched a counter-offensive into Kursk and questioned how Ukraine would use the 30-day ceasefire time.
"How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question - how will that be controlled," Putin asked, also demanding that the price of a 30-day ceasefire included Ukraine abandoning attempts to join NATO and to give up control of parts of their country occupied by Russian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian leader was using 'highly predictable and manipulative words' to reject a ceasefire without explicitly rejecting it.
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Donald Trump had said that Russia faces a 'very bad punishment' if Putin didn't agree to the ceasefire, but later said he was 'getting pretty good vibes' that Russia would agree to the ceasefire, saying: "I think I know him pretty well and I think he’s going to agree."
Sir Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, is today (15 March) holding further talks with countries on the possibility of establishing a 'coalition of the willing' peacekeeping force for Ukraine, and said that Putin must not play games over a ceasefire.
Starmer said: "We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal.
"The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace."
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Russia has not agreed to the ceasefire and the PM hit out at Putin's attempts to delay having to make a decision on it, insisting that 'the world needs to see action' on peace.
He said: "Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place, but the world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions.
"My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now. Until then we will keep working around the clock to deliver peace."
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Starmer continued with his words on the Russian invasion of Ukraine today by saying that he thought Russia would have to engage seriously in negotiations at some point.
"My feeling is that sooner or later [Putin is] going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussion, but – and this is a big but for us this morning in our meeting – we can’t sit back and simply wait for that to happen," the PM said from Downing Street.
“We have to keep pushing ahead, pushing forward, and preparing for peace, and a peace that will be secure and that will last.
“I think that means strengthening Ukraine so they can defend themselves, and strengthening, obviously, in terms of military capability, in terms of funding, in terms of the provision of further support from all of us to Ukraine.
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"Secondly, being prepared to defend any deal ourselves through a coalition of the willing. We’ve begun that process and this morning we can take it forward.
“And then, thirdly, and really importantly, given the developments of the last few days, to keep the pressure on Putin to come to the table, and I think collectively we’ve got a number of ways that we can do that.
“So it’s those three heads, really, that we’re going to focus on in this meeting, strengthening Ukraine, being prepared to defend any deal ourselves through a coalition of the willing, and keeping that pressure on Russia at this crucial time."
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Keir Starmer, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Joe Harker