Starmer and the "willing" agreed: Putin must prove that he is committed to peace

Any plan for a peaceful settlement on Ukraine needs cooperation with the United States. This was stated today at a press conference on the results of video conversations with the "coalition of the willing" by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, The Guardian reports.

Plans for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia should include cooperation with the United States, Starmer stressed. This is how he answered the question of whether he is still looking for "support" from Washington in the field of security.

"The position on the United States has not changed. I made it clear that this should be done jointly with the United States... we talk to the United States on a daily basis," Starmer said.

Keir Starmer's statement from a press conference at Downing Street was published by the PA news agency.

"Today I had a telephone conversation with colleagues from different European countries, as well as with the NATO Secretary General and the heads of the EU Commission, the EU Council, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss our support for Ukraine… We agreed that now the ball is on the side of Russia and the president (Vladimir) Putin must prove that he is serious about peace and sign a ceasefire agreement on equal terms. Hesitation and delay of the Kremlin in connection with the proposal of the President (US Donald) Trump's ceasefire, as well as Russia's ongoing barbaric attacks on Ukraine is completely contrary to President Putin's stated desire for peace," the British prime minister said.

According to him, the participants of the video meeting agreed that military planners will meet again in the UK this week to develop practical plans for how the armed forces of the "coalition" can support the future security of Ukraine.

"We agreed that if President Putin refuses to agree to an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, we will need to intensify our efforts to strengthen Ukraine, weaken the Russian military machine and increase pressure on President Putin to convince him to come to the negotiating table. To do this, we will accelerate our military support, tighten sanctions on Russia's revenues and continue to explore all legal ways to ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," Starmer added.

He also said that the meeting participants agreed to continue discussions in the coming days.