UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledges to cut Russian oil and gas from global markets, strengthen Ukraine’s defenses, and push for rapid use of frozen Russian assets
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday vowed that the international coalition supporting Ukraine would move to take Russia’s oil and gas “off the global market”, a step he said would help “choke off funding for Russia’s war.”
Starmer hosted “Coalition of the Willing” talks in London with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders, discussing a range of efforts including taking Russian oil and gas off the global market and giving Kyiv more long-range missiles.
Speaking after the meeting, Starmer said there was “absolute clarity” among the coalition that progress on using frozen Russian assets to fund a loan to support Ukraine must be realised quickly.
The prime minister said the coalition was also “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence”, announcing that the UK would provide additional missiles to help bolster Ukrainian defences over the winter months.
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Nato chief Mark Rutte said US President Donald Trump was still reviewing whether to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the European Union should follow British and US sanctions on Russian oil firms.
Starmer reaffirmed that military pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin would continue and that allied nations were already working on a multinational security framework for Ukraine once peace is achieved.
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“Ukraine’s future is our future,” The Guardian quoted Starmer as saying.
“We are determined to act now to dial up the pressure on Putin and finally bring him to the negotiating table in good faith,” he added.
On Thursday, European Union leaders stopped short of approving a proposal to use frozen Russian assets to fund a major loan for Ukraine, amid objections from Belgium, where hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian reserves are held.
During the Brussels summit, Zelenskyy urged EU leaders to supply Kyiv with long-range missiles and to unlock the frozen Russian assets to help finance additional weapons.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said EU leaders were determined to find a way forward on the issue before the end of the year.
“We have to work in a way that we have a solution before Christmas Eve so we are able to ensure that we can finance Ukraine for the next years,” Reuters quoted Frederiksen as telling reporters. “I am sure that we will be able to do that,” Frederiksen added.
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Meanwhile, Starmer welcomed the EU’s latest sanctions package against Russia but emphasised the need for urgency.
Russia warns of ‘painful response’
Zelenskyy welcomed President Trump’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, calling it a “decisive step” against Moscow — a sharp reversal from Trump’s announcement last week of plans to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin.
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Moscow has warned of a “painful response” if Russian assets are seized, while Putin dismissed the new sanctions as an “unfriendly act” that would not significantly harm Russia’s economy.
Zelenskyy began his latest visit to the United Kingdom with a meeting with King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
The monarch has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine, having previously hosted Zelenskyy at his private residence earlier this year following a tense meeting between the Ukrainian president and Trump in February.
With inputs from agencies
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