British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine on Thursday on an unannounced visit to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“100-Year Partnership” treaty and additional aid
A “100-Year Partnership” treaty is expected to be signed. It will cover defence, science, energy and other areas.
Starmer will also announce more aid for Ukraine amid fears that the US will scale back support for Kyiv after Donald Trump returns to the White House. The British prime minister believes that Kyiv and London are now “closer than ever.”
Starmer may discuss the issue of providing security guarantees to Ukraine, including talk of sending “peacekeeping” British troops to Ukraine after the end of the conflict. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that security guarantees for Ukraine would only be effective if provided by the US.
The amount that the British government is spending on aid to Kyiv is one of the largest in comparison with the rest of European countries. That said, the UK’s role is insignificant relative to the amount of US supplies, the fate of which is unknown after Trump takes office as president.
Keir Starmer first travelled to Ukraine as prime minister. In 2023 he came when he was still the leader of the opposition.
Earlier, the head of the British government announced plans to persuade Donald Trump, who will soon take office as President of the US, to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine. Keir Starmer is expected to travel to Washington in late January – early February.
Relations with China
Another important topic of the meeting will be relations with Beijing. Kir Starmer does not support the idea of Donald Trump to raise tariffs on Chinese goods. At the same time, he shares the view that China is challenging the national security of the US and the UK.
Last November, a member of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence of Ukraine David Arakhamia, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at the talks in Istanbul, said that Kyiv’s decision to refuse Moscow’s conditions in the spring of 2022 was influenced, among other things, by the advice of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He said at that time:
“When we came back from Istanbul, Boris Johnson came to Kyiv and said that we will not sign anything with them at all. And let’s just go to war.”
Arakhamia led the Ukrainian delegation in the negotiations with Russia in 2022. The first round of talks took place on February 28, 2022 in Belarus, and the second in late March in Istanbul. By early summer, the talks were halted and the sides accused each other of derailing the agreements.
Trump reconsidered his promises on Ukraine
The new US President Donald Trump changed his mind about ending the conflict in Ukraine in 24 hours, contrary to previous promises. The future administration wants to avoid the mistakes of outgoing President Joe Biden in withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan.
According to media reports, Trump’s associates are forced to reconsider their approach to the Ukrainian conflict. Now they are discussing the continuation of support for Kyiv, but mainly through European allies.
Last week, Trump announced new deadlines for ending the conflict. He expressed hope that he could put an end to the fighting in six months. Trump admitted that he could understand Russia’s “feelings” against Kyiv joining NATO.
At the same time, the future special envoy of the US President-elect for the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said that on a “personal and professional” level he would like to achieve peace within 100 days. He believes that Trump will not make concessions to Russia. Before that, Kellogg noted that Washington under the new head of state will not allow a repetition of the Minsk agreements.
On Wednesday, US media reported that Trump wants to make a “deal of the century” on the Ukrainian issue, but he does not care about the fate of Ukraine. Sources said Trump would not support Ukraine’s accession to NATO. However, European officials want the issue to be discussed at the talks.
US Senator Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s nominee for secretary of state, said that sanctions and their lifting could play an important role in negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, The New York Times reports.
Marco Rubio said:
“So, it’s very difficult to reach an accord or an agreement that begins with a ceasefire and ends with a peace agreement, unless both sides have some leverage. Now, there is some leverage that exists beyond military capabilities as well. We have a significant number of sanctions on the Russian Federation, and they continue to grow and expand, and other nations do as well, and that will have to be part of this conversation in terms of bringing about a peaceful resolution.”
