UK and France to present Ukraine peace plan to Trump, PM says

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK and France volition enactment with Ukraine "on a program to halt the fighting" with Russia - and volition past "discuss that program with the United States".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is attending a acme of European leaders, 2 days aft a fiery speech with US President Donald Trump successful the White House.

Sir Keir told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that his "driving purpose" close present was to enactment arsenic a "bridge" betwixt the 2 men.

Asked astir however helium felt watching the spat successful the White House, Sir Keir sought to play down the incident, saying "nobody wants to spot that" and admitted helium felt "uncomfortable".

The PM's effect was to prime up the telephone to his counterparts Trump and Zelensky that aforesaid night, successful an effort to "get america backmost to the cardinal focus", helium said.

"There are a fig of antithetic routes radical tin spell down. One is to ramp up the rhetoric arsenic to however outraged we each are oregon not."

He said the different enactment was to "roll up my sleeves" and rapidly telephone some men - and past besides to talk to French President Emmanuel Macron astir the relation that the starring nations of Europe would play.

"Because my absorption was we person to span this, we person to find a mode that we tin each enactment unneurotic due to the fact that successful the extremity we've had 3 years of bloody struggle now, we request to get to that lasting peace".

He besides dismissed calls by SNP archetypal curate John Swinney to cancel the invitation for a 2nd authorities sojourn to the UK by Trump.

Sir Keir said: "I'm not going to beryllium diverted by the SNP oregon others trying to ramp up the rhetoric without truly appreciating what is the azygous astir important happening astatine involvement present - we're talking astir bid successful Europe."

The premier curate received enactment from Liberal Democrat person Sir Ed Davey, who said the authorities sojourn should beryllium utilized to unafraid guarantees for Ukraine.

He said: "I deliberation we should usage each azygous paper that we have, and I deliberation it should beryllium made wide to the White House that the authorities sojourn would beryllium a genuine one, we would invited him here, but connected information that helium steps up – that the US steps up to enactment with the UK and Europe to enactment and support Ukraine."

In his interview, Sir Keir was cautious to debar laying immoderate blasted for the enactment and insisted helium was "clear successful my mind" that Trump "wants a lasting peace", answering "yes" erstwhile asked straight if helium believed Trump could beryllium trusted.

Zelensky could besides beryllium trusted, helium added, but not Russian President Vladimir Putin - which is the crushed the US needs to supply a information warrant for immoderate bid deal.

The premier curate acknowledged that a European information warrant would person to beryllium led by a "coalition of the willing".

Sir Keir said that "Europeans person stood up successful the past 3 years" but that "generally Europe needs to bash much successful its ain defence and security".

Conservative person Kemi Badenoch, besides speaking connected the Kuenssberg show, gave her backing to the PM implicit Ukraine, but said it was important to support the US engaged.

"We request to marque definite that America does not disengage, it is successful their involvement for bid now, if we each get dragged into an escalation, America volition get dragged into it eventually," she told the BBC.

Badenoch besides repeated her telephone for the UK to rise defence spending further, saying it should scope 3% of nationalist income by the extremity of this Parliament.

Earlier this week, the PM announced helium would chopped the overseas assistance fund to rise defence backing from 2.3% to 2.5% of nationalist income by 2027, which led to the resignation of his International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds.

The determination came aft Trump had called connected Nato allies to summation defence spending to 5% of their respective nationalist incomes.

France spends 2.1% connected defence and has pledged to treble this by 2030.

Sir Keir urged each European nations to reappraisal their defence budgets, saying: "We've got to summation capableness and we've got to co-ordinate much due to the fact that successful the Ukraine struggle we've seen that the co-ordination isn't there."

Asked to explicate what a European "coalition of the willing" was, helium said: "We request to beryllium wide what a European information warrant [in Ukraine] would look like.

"We've got to find those countries successful Europe that are prepared to beryllium a spot much forward-leaning."

He said the UK and France were starring the reasoning connected it, but added: "The much the amended successful this."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was welcomed to Downing Street by the PM soon befotre the summit, which Sir Keir said they were approaching "with a precise akin mindset".

Meloni spoke to reporters successful Downing Street, saying: "We are each precise committed astir a extremity that we each privation to achieve, which is simply a conscionable and lasting bid successful Ukraine.

"I deliberation it is very, precise important that we debar the hazard that the West divides and I deliberation connected this UK and Italy tin play an important relation successful bridge-building."