LONDON – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he has no plan to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he pledged support for Ukraine as the U.K.’s top priority at this week’s G20 summit.
Speaking with reporters on the way to the meeting in Brazil, Starmer said he wouldn’t speak to Putin as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did on Friday.
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The call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin said was initiated by Germany, was the first publicly announced conversation between Putin and a major head of a Western power in almost two years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the call and said it would only make Russia less isolated.
Ukraine's allies fear that the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned U.S. aid sent to Kyiv and spoken favorably about Putin, could alter support from Washington, its biggest backer
Starmer said allies have to double down now to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“We are coming up to the 1,000th day of this conflict on Tuesday,” Starmer said. “That’s 1,000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of huge impact and sacrifice in relation to the Ukrainian people and recently we’ve seen the addition of North Korean troops working with Russians which does have serious implications.”
The U.K. has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16.15 billion) in aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.