The prime minister says Ukraine must determine terms of proposals, as the US puts pressure on Zelenskyy to accept. Callum Fairhurst reports on proceedings, as Political Correspondent Harry Horton brings the latest from South Africa
Sir Keir Starmer held a “constructive” phone call with Donald Trump on Saturday over the US president’s peace proposal for Ukraine.
The pair agreed that their teams will work together on the 28-point plan, which has been widely criticised by European leaders, during talks in Geneva tomorrow.
The prime minister relayed to Trump what he had discussed with members of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine at the G20 summit in South Africa today and agreed to talk to the US leader again tomorrow.
ITV News understands that the calls were “good and constructive”.
It comes after leaders meeting at the Johannesburg G20 summit issued a joint statement saying Trump’s plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “will require additional work”.
The leaders expressed concerns about the proposal to limit Ukraine’s armed forces and stressed that “borders must not be changed by force”.
Washington reportedly pressed Kyiv to accept the agreement, which would see the invaded country make major concessions, including giving up territory and cutting the size of its army.
In their response, Starmer 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.”
Starmer also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the phone on Saturday – ahead of more detailed talks in Switzerland between US, Ukrainian and European national security advisers (NSAs).
“We had a long conversation and covered many nuances of diplomatic work in planning the peace process,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Coordination will continue, and I am grateful to the British society for their support.”
As well as potential territorial concessions and limits on military numbers, leaders also have concerns over proposals that Ukraine should be barred from joining the Nato military alliance.
Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg, Starmer said: “We are concerned about (caps on military) because it’s fundamental that Ukraine has to be able to defend itself if there’s a ceasefire.”
He said that the allies of Ukraine agreed that “there are elements in the 28-point plan which are essential to lasting peace, but it requires additional work, and that we are going to engage on that”.
“And that’s why there’s been the agreement that in Geneva tomorrow, you’ll have senior US personnel, you’ll have European NSAs, including the UK NSA, and obviously Ukrainians there to work further on the draft.”
Trump has said he wants a response to the peace plan from Ukraine by Thursday, while suggesting an extension could be possible.
Asked whether that deadline is realistic, Starmer said: “Obviously, I think it should be done as soon as possible, but it’s got to be a just and lasting peace, and so we’ve got to get it right.
“I think we’ll be in a better position to know once the meeting in Geneva has taken place tomorrow, because that’s the opportunity for the US Ukraine and European NSAs to go through quite a bit of detail.”
Asked if the UK and others were planning for how to continue supporting Ukraine without the US in the fight, Starmer said he was confident that Trump “wants a just and lasting peace”.
He said Trump’s actions, and the private discussions he has held with the president one to one has provided him reassurance, adding: “I know what he’s trying to achieve. We all want to achieve that, and that is what our focus is.
“I think it is important to say that one of the elements in the 28-point plan is the security guarantee from the US – the article five guarantee.
“That’s about the strongest guarantee that can be put forward. And so that fortifies in me the belief that what we’re all trying to achieve here is a just and lasting peace.
“But it’ll only be just and lasting if there are security guarantees, and if we bear in mind that matters for Ukraine are always to be determined by Ukraine.”
The Prime Minister held 25-minute talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, before the meeting was expanded to include a dozen G7 and G20 leaders including from Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway and the European Union.
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.
Starmer will not visit Washington next week, it is understood, amid reports that European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are considering visiting Trump to discuss his plan.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, like 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, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address to his nation that it 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”.
It followed his 40-minute call with Starmer, Macron and Merz, in which the European leaders emphasised that Ukraine “must determine its future under its sovereignty”.
The Prime Minister said they had emphasised to Zelenskyy their support for Ukraine and the “fundamental principle” that Kyiv should be in charge of its own destiny.
From Westminster to Washington DC – our political experts are across all the latest key talking points. Listen to the latest episode below…
Trump is boycotting the November 22-23 leaders’ summit over widely rejected claims that white people are being persecuted in South Africa. It was unclear whether there would be any involvement in the meeting of Ukraine’s allies.
The Prime Minister’s language has been cautiously diplomatic and has praised US efforts to end the four-year conflict.
No 10 has defended the Labour leader’s attendance at the G20 summit – coming days before the Budget is expected to raise taxes and despite the US president’s absence – saying he would use it to shore up support for Kyiv and strike business deals.
He will announce a £4 billion maritime agreement in a call with Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto on Saturday.
Led by British defence firm Babcock, the programme will see the two countries jointly develop capability for Indonesia’s navy, creating 1,000 jobs in Rosyth, Bristol and Plymouth.
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