Starmer and other Ukraine allies say US peace plan ‘will require work’

Sir Keir Starmer and other international leaders have called the US-drafted peace plan for Ukraine “a basis which will require additional work”, as they expressed concerns about the proposal to limit Kyiv’s armed forces.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday following their meeting at the Johannesburg G20 summit, shunned by Donald Trump, the leaders also stressed that “borders must not be changed by force”.

Washington reportedly pressed Kyiv to accept the agreement it secretly drafted with Russia, which would see the invaded country make major concessions including surrendering territory, cutting the size of its army and giving up its path to Nato membership.

In their response, the Prime Minister and 12 other European and international leaders said: “We welcome the continued US efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.

“The initial draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace.

“We believe therefore that the draft is a basis which will require additional work. We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.

“We reiterate that the implementation of elements relating to the European Union and relating to Nato would need the consent of EU and Nato members respectively.

“We take this opportunity to underline the strength of our continued support to Ukraine. We will continue to coordinate closely with Ukraine and the US over the coming days.”

Alongside the UK, the statement was issued by France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Ireland, the EU Commission and EU Council.

The Prime Minister held 25-minute talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, before the meeting was expanded to include the other G7 and G20 leaders.

The 28-point plan is said to have been negotiated by the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev, with Kyiv and European allies left out of the process.

Officials from the US and Ukraine are expected to hold talks in Geneva on Sunday, with Mr Witkoff and US secretary of state Marco Rubio to attend for the US, according to a person familiar with the plans.

National security advisers from the UK, France and Germany are also expected to be there.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address to his nation, said Ukrainian representatives at the talks in Switzerland “know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out” another invasion.

“Real peace is always based on security and justice,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Mr Trump told Fox News Radio on Friday he wanted a response to the peace plan from Ukraine by Thursday, while suggesting an extension could be possible.

He told reporters on Friday that Mr Zelensky is “going to have to approve it”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who like Mr Trump is not attending the gathering of the world’s leading economies, on Friday cautiously welcomed the US proposal, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement”.

But he said the plan had not been discussed with the Russian side “in any substantive way” and that he assumed this was because the US had not been able to get Ukraine’s consent.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine faced “one of the most difficult moments” in its history, facing a choice between “losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner”.