The UK and European Union are in talks to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine ahead of a potential full ceasefire, Britain’s foreign secretary told Bloomberg shortly before Vladimir Putin agreed to a limited truce.
David Lammy said he discussed the possibility of sending more military support to Ukraine before any broad cessation in fighting is implemented at a meeting in London with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, Tuesday. The idea was also raised at the Group of Seven meeting of foreign ministers in Canada last week, he said.
“Of course it’s our intention to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position militarily and economically,” the foreign secretary told Bloomberg in an interview before Putin’s call with US President Donald Trump concluded. “We want peace to prevail but we get peace through strength and that means putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to repel any prospects of the war beginning again.”
Putin and Trump struck an agreement Tuesday to limit Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy assets for 30 days, but Putin declined to agree to a broader ceasefire that the US had sought. They agreed to immediately start negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea as well as a “full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House said in a statement after the call ended.
The Kremlin’s account of the conversation with Trump said Putin imposed several conditions for a lasting ceasefire, including suspending arms and intelligence support for Ukraine. The Kremlin said that Ukraine must also stop mobilizing new recruits and that “the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working toward its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.”
Shortly before the readouts of the call, Lammy called on Russia to agree to an “unconditional ceasefire” and warned that Putin cannot be allowed to capitalize on a truce by re-arming his military before a lasting peace settlement is reached. The UK and Ukraine’s other European allies are concerned that Russia will reject a peace deal and use a ceasefire period to re-arm and launch further attacks on Ukraine.
“What we want is an end to all fighting, not a period in which Putin is able to re-arm and go again,” Lammy said. “No ifs, no buts, no conditions: Putin could simply declare an unconditional ceasefire on the basis of what was negotiated between the US, with our help, and the Ukrainians last week and we could begin the proper process of peace in Ukraine.”
With assistance from Alex Wickham.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
About The Author
