Plan for ceasefire

London and Paris work on plan for ceasefire

From left: France's President Emmanuel Macron and Great Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer

(Bild: NEIL HALL/POOL)

Great Britain and France want to draw up a plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed a "strategic dialog" with those partners who do not have nuclear weapons. "We have a shield, they don't", he said in reference to the USA.

However, building a European defense that is independent of NATO will take between five and ten years, Macron pointed out. Previously, the likely future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had already said that he wanted to negotiate such a nuclear deterrent system with France, the UK and other allies. The situation has "now changed once again and we should therefore think about this issue together again".

Experts point out that the British nuclear weapons in particular are integrated into the US armed forces. "Both the missiles and the warheads depend on US and US designs," said nuclear physicist Norman Dombey.

We have now agreed that the UK will work with France and possibly one or two other countries with Ukraine on a plan to end the fighting.

Großbritanniens Premier Keir Starmer

Starmer: "Coalition of the willing" for support
Meanwhile, more than a dozen Western heads of state and government will discuss the situation in the Ukraine war and further support for the war-torn country on Sunday. "This is probably a coalition of the willing for now," said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday. He did not want to criticize anyone, but this was better than waiting for every single country in Europe.

"We have now agreed that the UK will work with France and possibly one or two other countries with Ukraine on a plan to end the fighting," Starmer said. The plan will then be discussed with the United States.

Prime Minister Starmer wants to form a "coalition of the willing" in order to initiate concrete European security guarantees for Ukraine.

(Bild: AFP/Pool/Christophe Ena)

This was the result of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump on Saturday, Starmer added.

US back-up needed for peacekeeping force
The British Prime Minister reiterated his call for the USA to provide security so that the Europeans can prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again following a possible peace agreement. He remained convinced that a kind of US reassurance was necessary so that a European peacekeeping force could provide Ukraine with a security guarantee in order for a peace agreement to work.

Summit overshadowed by scandal in the Oval Office
According to Starmer's office, the summit is intended to underpin Europe's support for "securing a just and lasting peace" in Ukraine. The summit was overshadowed by the scandal between US President Donald Trump, his Vice President JD Vance and the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Selenskyj at the White House on Friday.

Commenting on the scandal in the White House between Zelensky and Trump, Starmer said: "Nobody wants to see that." That's why he picked up the phone and spoke to those involved. "My motivation was to bridge the gap, so to speak, and bring us back to the central focus," said Starmer.

He is sticking to Trump's invitation to a second state visit in the face of domestic political resistance and rejected calls - from the Scottish National Party (SNP), for example - to withdraw the invitation in light of the scandal in the White House. The Labour leader told the BBC that it was crucial to talk about peace in Europe.

London grants Ukraine a billion-euro loan
On Saturday, Great Britain granted Ukraine a loan of 2.74 billion euros to strengthen its defense. The finance ministers of the two countries, Rachel Reeves and Serhii Marschenko, signed an agreement to this effect.