Ukraine war briefing: Volodymyr Zelenskyy praises Keir Starmer for pledge of ‘ironclad support’

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday praised the UK for showing “leadership” on the war with Russia after the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, pledged his “ironclad support” for Kyiv in a phone call. Ahead of a planned meeting with Donald Trump this week, Starmer insisted that Ukraine must be “at the heart of any negotiations” on a peace deal with Russia. Zelenskyy said in his evening address: “We have coordinated our positions and our diplomacy. We appreciate that the UK is committed to maintaining leadership in protecting life and just normalcy.”

About 62% of Britons believe Ukraine should be allowed into Nato, according to new polling.

Starmer and the EU chief Ursula von der Leyen discussed “the need to secure a just and enduring peace in Ukraine” in a call on Saturday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

London will unveil a significant package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, according to the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, who said it was “time to turn the screws on Putin’s Russia. Tomorrow, I plan to announce the largest package of sanctions against Russia since the early days of the war.”

A second meeting between representatives of Russia and the US is planned for the next two weeks, the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday, citing the Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov. Preparations for a face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were under way, Ryabkov said, adding that a possible summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin said early on Sunday that meeting the needs of troops fighting in Ukraine and boosting the armed forces were Russia’s key strategic priorities. “Today, in the context of rapid changes in the world, our strategic course to strengthen and develop the armed forces remains unchanged,” Putin said in a video posted online.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has urged UN members to approve a new US-proposed resolution on the Ukraine war that according to diplomats omits any mention of territory occupied by Russia. The US wants the UN security council to vote on a brief draft resolution marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday before the 193-member general assembly votes on the same text, diplomats said on Saturday. The US move pits it against Ukraine and the EU, who have for the past month been negotiating with UN member states on their own draft text on the war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “not ready” to sign a deal that would give the US preferential access to his country’s critical minerals, a Ukrainian source told AFP. Donald Trump has demanded Kyiv supply the US with the resources as recompense for military aid. Zelenskyy has so far rejected US proposals for their harsh terms and lack of security guarantees for Ukraine. The White House national security adviser has told Zelenskyy to “tone done” his complaints about the US and “sign that deal”.

An economic partnership between Ukraine and the US would benefit both countries, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, wrote in an opinion piece for the Financial Times on Saturday. Bessent wrote that the US had proposed revenue received by Ukraine’s government from natural resources, infrastructure and other assets be allocated to a fund focused on the long-term reconstruction and development of Ukraine, with the US having economic and governance rights in those future investments.

Russia claimed its forces had captured the village of Novolyubivka in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region. The Ukrainian army controls a handful of localities in Luhansk, whose annexation Moscow illegally claimed in 2022.

A 70-year-old woman was killed and three others were injured in Russian guided bomb attacks on the industrial city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said late on Saturday. Seven apartment buildings and 14 other buildings were damaged in the attack, the service said.