Ukraine war: Starmer says peace talks can end Russian invasion in significant shift

Prime minister Keir Starmer vouched for stepping up support for Ukraine as an essential move to put the country in the strongest position for peace talks.

Sir Starmer stressed the importance of continued Western support to Ukraine and warned a Russian victory in Ukraine would threaten Europe’s security, stability and prosperity, particularly because it could embolden Russia’s allies.

“We must continue to back Ukraine and do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as it takes,” the British PM said in a speech in London’s historic financial district.

He added: “To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence – and right to choose their own future.”

Sir Starmer’s comments come at crucial moment in the war with Russia advancing at its fastest rate since 2022 and US president-elect Donald Trump – who is deeply sceptical of US support for Ukraine – promising to end the war quickly after he is inaugurated next month.

Britain has been one of Ukraine‘s most vocal supporters since the start of the invasion by Russia in 2022 and was the first country to supply more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine, including battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles.

German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.

“Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices,” the spokesperson said just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during a surprise trip to Kyiv.

A government spokesperson said the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.

More than 100,000 soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said, starving Kyiv of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials have told the Associated Press.

Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, military commanders and soldiers said. Some take medical leave and find themselves unable to bring themselves to return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.

Nearly half of the 100,000 peope charged have deserted in the last year alone, after Kyiv launched an aggressive mobilisation drive that government officials and military commanders concede has largely failed.

There were an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers engaged in combat before the mobilisation drive began. One politician with knowledge of military matters estimated the actual number of deserters could be as high as 200,000.

Nato is highly unlikely to heed Ukraine’s call for a membership invitation at a meeting today, according to diplomats.

Ukraine sees Nato membership as the best guarantee of its future security. Under Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence pact, members agree to treat an attack on one as an attack on all and come to each other’s aid.

In a letter to his Nato counterparts ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said an invitation would remove one of Russia’s main arguments for waging its war – namely, preventing Ukraine from joining the alliance.

But there is no sign of the required consensus among Nato’s 32 members for such a decision at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It will take weeks and months to get consensus,” a senior Nato diplomat said yesterday. “I don’t see that happening tomorrow, I would be very surprised.”

A senior US official said the meeting would focus on surging support for Ukraine so it was in the strongest possible position next year, “going into possible negotiations”.

“The best way to do that is to surge money, munitions and mobilisation,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US and Ukrainian defense chiefs discussed Russia’s use of new ballistic missiles, preparations for the next meeting of arms donors and plans for Washington’s military aid next year, both sides said.

“Secretary (of Defence Lloyd) Austin condemned Russia’s recent barrage of missiles and Unmanned Aerial Systems targeting Ukraine‘s civilian infrastructure and its use of an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile in Ukraine, which marks another escalation in Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the Pentagon’s press secretary, Major General Pat Ryder, said in a statement.

The meeting came as the US said it will send Kyiv $725m of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons, as president Joe Biden’s outgoing administration seeks to bolster Kyiv before leaving office.

Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov said the call also focused on “strategic planning for 2025, particularly regarding the supply of weapons, equipment, and equipping of our units.”

He also said he discussed with Mr Austin preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Ramstein Group, an alliance of Nato, the European Union and countries that have supported Kyiv.

Major companies in the arms industry saw a 4.2 per cent increase in overall revenue in 2023 with sharp rises for producers based in Russia and the Middle East, a new report has found.

The report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said revenues from the top 100 arms companies totaled $632 billion last year in response to surging demand related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

It said that “smaller producers were more efficient at responding to new demand.”

The 41 US-based arms companies among the world’s top 100 saw revenues of $317 billion (£263bn), a 2.5% increase from 2022, the report said.

Russia’s top two arms companies saw their combined revenues increase by 40 per cent, to an estimated $25.5 billion.

“This was almost entirely due to the 49% increase in arms revenues recorded by Rostec, a state-owned holding company controlling many arms producers,” the SIPRI report said.