Ukraine needs guarantees, as Putin's ambitions are "barely concealed" - British Prime Minister

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "not entirely surprised" by Russia's apparent rejection of the US ceasefire proposal. He called on allies to do more to put pressure on Moscow and offer Ukraine security guarantees to protect it from Putin's "barely concealed" ambitions. This was reported by UNN with reference to The Guardian.

Speaking on the News Agents podcast, Starmer said: "First, we are focused on a strong and secure peace in Ukraine, which we all aspire to. I am not entirely surprised that Russia is taking this position. They have made it quite clear. They have made a spectacle of it several times. I think progress was made on Tuesday, and I always felt and hoped that from Tuesday the ball would be on the Russian side and the pressure would be on Russia. That has now happened."

Starmer stressed that this is good, because Russia is the aggressor.

"Russia is a country that, although it had previous agreements and arrangements, it did not adhere to them. We know that Putin has ambitions that are barely concealed," Starmer said.

He stressed that it is necessary to work with allies, with the United States, with Ukraine.

"I will hold this meeting on Saturday to bring a number of leaders together to see what further progress we can make, but (we need - ed.) a strong and reliable peace with Ukraine's sovereignty and security. But it must be a peace in which the agreement is protected, because we have already had an agreement and it has not been adhered to by Russia," the British Prime Minister said.

Starmer also pointed to the Kremlin's opposition to proposals to provide Ukraine with additional security guarantees.

"He says, and he has said before, that he does not want security guarantees regarding the agreement. That tells you something: if you are not going to violate the agreement, you will not have too much trouble with the guarantees of the agreement. And we know that in the past he has violated the agreement. So his reaction reinforces my deep conviction that if the agreement is not protected by security guarantees, he will violate it over time," Starmer is convinced.

Addition

The Kremlin outlined Russia's position on resolving the war with Ukraine. Putin's representative for international affairs, Yuriy Ushakov, stressed that Russia seeks a long-term settlement, not a ceasefire.

The National Security and Defense Council reacted to the Kremlin's statement on the ceasefire and stated that it is not an official refusal of the Russian Federation, the decision there is made by Putin.