Starmer reaffirms commitment to put UK ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine if hostilities cease – Europe live | World news
Starmer reaffirms UK’s commitment to ‘put boots on the ground’ in Ukraine ‘in the event of hostilities ceasing’
UK prime minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed ongoing work by the ‘coalition of the willing’ to prepare for the deployment of a multinational force to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, Downing Street said.
The UK is still willing to put boots on the ground to protect Kyiv if there is a cessation of hostilities, the prime minister’s official spokesperson confirmed, reports the PA news agency.
In a readout of the call between the two leaders on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
The prime minister began by sharing his condolences with President Zelensky on the appalling Russian attacks overnight, paying tribute to the Ukrainian people who showed such courage and resilience in the face of daily hardship and bloodshed from Putin’s ongoing onslaught.
Reflecting on the talks in Geneva and the diplomatic discussions that have followed, the leaders agreed on the importance of securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
The prime minister said Ukraine could rely on the UK support as discussions continued. Looking ahead to this afternoon’s coalition of the willing call, the leaders discussed the international unity that has been shown in support for Ukraine and underlined the importance of the continued work by coalition partners in preparation for deployment for multinational force following the cessation of hostilities.
The prime minister and president look forward to speaking again soon.
No 10 said it would not get ahead of discussions among the ‘coalition of the willing’ on Tuesday afternoon but that “planning has continued on an enduring basis” after the UK and France’s commitment in the summer to a multinational force to help strengthen Ukraine’s path to peace.
Asked whether the UK was still prepared to put boots on the ground, Starmer’s official spokesperson said:
If you’re asking me directly, is the UK still willing to put boots on the ground in the event of hostilities ceasing, the answer is yes. That’s our existing position.
Key events
The European Union must ramp up efforts to break its dependence on China for rare earths faced with export curbs that amount to a “racket” by Beijing, the bloc’s industry chief said on Tuesday.
“It is high time for Europe to step up its game. To redouble its efforts to reduce our dependencies on China,” European Commission vice-president Stéphane Séjourné told EU lawmakers, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hello, Amy Sedghi here, taking over from my colleague Jakub Krupa. I will bring you Europe updates as they come in.
Russia fired 22 missiles of various types and more than 460 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. The strikes knocked out water, electricity and heat in parts of Kyiv. Video footage posted to Telegram showed a large fire spreading in a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s eastern Dniprovskyi district, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said 20 people were injured in Kyiv. The Russian defence ministry said it targeted military-industrial facilities and energy assets. The strikes were a response to Ukrainian attacks on civilian objects in Russia, it added.
In other EU related news, a top European court on Tuesday ruled that an EU nation had to recognise a gay marriage recorded in another member state, after a complaint by two Poles married in Germany.
The couple, one of whom also has German nationality, were living there and married in Berlin in 2018, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
But when they tried to move to Poland and requested their marriage certificate be registered there, they were “refused on the ground that Polish law does not allow marriage between persons of the same sex”, the Court of Justice of the European Union said in a statement. The court said:
The spouses in question, as EU citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the member states and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their member state of origin.
It said “such a refusal is contrary to EU law” and “infringes not only the freedom to move and reside, but also the fundamental right to respect for private and family life”.
Sweden to invest in air defences to protect against robots, drones, helicopters
Miranda Bryant
Nordic correspondent
Meanwhile, Sweden has today announced it is investing an additional 3.5bn SEK (£280m) in air defences amid the increased threat from drones and other forms of aerial attack.
Speaking in Halmstad, in south-west Sweden, at the air defence regiment, the minister of defence, Pål Jonson, said:
“Sweden’s defence needs to be strengthened against threats such as robots, drones and helicopters. The best way to guarantee peace and freedom is to invest in defence. The orders also contribute to growth, jobs and security of supply. It also improves the possibilities of increasing production capacity in the defence industry.”
The new investments include additional air defence systems and modern radar systems.
Zelenskyy talks with Starmer about ‘many prospects’ for peace after Geneva talks
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with UK prime minister Keir Starmer this morning, acknowledging “many prospects that can make the path to peace real.”
Zelenskyy said that the Geneva talks brought “solid results,” but “much work still lies ahead.”
Ahead of the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing later today, the pair also “coordinated our positions and the priority issues for discussion,” Zelenskyy said.
He also condemned the Russian attacks overnight, saying that they came “at a time when Ukraine, together with America, Europe, and many others around the world, are working virtually around the clock to stop the bloodshed.”
Russia launches deadly strikes on Kyiv amid new US-brokered peace talks
Dan Sabbagh
in Kyiv
Four people were killed and three injured at one site in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district in the west, and two people were killed and five injured in the Dniprovskyi district. There were 13 separate reports of attack damage or falling debris including to a 22-storey residential apartment block.
Liubov Petrivna, a resident of a damaged building in the Dniprovskyi district, said “absolutely everything” in her apartment had been shattered by the strike and “glass rained down” on her.
The 90-year-old told Associated Press she did not believe in the peace plan under discussion: “No one will ever do anything about it. Putin won’t stop until he finishes us off.”
Explosions were heard in two waves in the capital, first shortly after 1am, and again at about 7am, and also in the Dnipro, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions in a wide-ranging assault against the country’s already battered infrastructure.
Emergency power outages to Kyiv’s already disrupted service were announced by the Ukrenergo electricity generator, while heat supply was also affected in large parts of the capital on Tuesday morning as the city began a clear-up process.
“The Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and housing. Cynical terror,” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the military administration for the capital, said on Telegram.
Coalition of the Willing to meet this afternoon
Separately to the US-led talks in Abu Dhabi, the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” will also meet virtually today to talk about its next steps.
The call, bringing together some 30 countries, is expected in the afternoon.
Zelenskyy could see Trump in US ‘at earliest suitable date in November’ to finalise talks, Ukraine’s national security council chief says
Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine and the country’s former defence minister, said the US and Ukrainian delegations “reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva,” hailing “productive and constructive” meetings with US counterparts.
Seemingly keen to progress the talks on the revised terms further, he said:
“We look forward to organising a visit of Ukraine’s President to the US at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump.”
But this may not be that simple as Russia is yet to indicate its support for the revised proposals, somewhat complicating the path for the deal to be agreed.
Driscoll’s unexpected role in Ukraine talks suggest resurgence of isolationist vice-president Vance
Andrew Roth
in Washington
The US army secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration’s newest proposal to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine – but his ties to JD Vance have put a close ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president on the frontlines of Donald Trump’s latest push to end the war.
Before his trip to Kyiv last week, Driscoll was not known for his role as a negotiator or statesman, and his early efforts at selling the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.
His close ties to Vance, with whom he studied at Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.
It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous first trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more “respect” – now Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to cut a quick deal that local officials have described as a “capitulation”.
Dan Driscoll is the unlikely point man for the Ukraine peace deal
Robert Tait
in Washington
Little in Dan Driscoll’s résumé – past or present – suggests he has the qualifications to understand the often-tortured and bloody history of relations between Russia and Ukraine.
A former investment banker with a degree in business administration, the current US army secretary’s main calling card for a prominent role in the Trump administration may be a friendship with JD Vance dating from when they were at Yale Law School together.
Against that thin backdrop, Driscoll now finds himself in the unlikely role of US point man between Kyiv and Moscow as Donald Trump seeks to live up to his promise to end the near four-year war between the two countries, something he once promised to do on “day one” of his presidency.
Previously seen by the president as the “drone guy” due to his interest in state-of-the-art technology, the army chief – not yet 40 – found himself on Thursday delivering a 28-point White House peace plan to Zelenskyy that Ukrainians and their European allies have denounced as a “capitulation” that effectively rewards Moscow for its aggression.
Diplomatic neophyte that he may be, Driscoll’s advocates argue that his rise is due to more than just the default of others.
Since being sworn in on 25 February, he is said to have impressed White House insiders as one of the administration’s most skillful performers.
As army secretary, he is tasked with the unglamorous job of managing the budget and overseeing its 1 million-plus strong workforce of active duty personnel, national guard and reserve soldiers, as well as about 265,000 civilian employees.
Disarray over leaked US-Russia peace plan is ideal scenario for Putin
Pjotr Sauer
Russian affairs reporter
The Kremlin has barely lifted a finger in recent days. It hasn’t needed to.
The 28-point US-Russia peace proposal, leaked to the media last week, has thrown Washington, Kyiv and European capitals into disarray, creating precisely the conditions Vladimir Putin has long sought: a negotiating table sharply tilted in the Russian president’s favour, with Ukraine cornered into weighing terms it cannot accept and the threat of losing its most important ally hanging over its head.
The structure of the US negotiation process works to Russia’s advantage.
Washington wants Kyiv to approve the plan before a US delegation travels to Moscow to finalise terms.
The Kremlin believes any move by Zelenskyy to accept something close to the 28-point draft would trigger political turmoil in Ukraine – an outcome Moscow would welcome.
And Putin knows Ukraine cannot simply abandon the talks: it remains reliant on US-supplied weapons and intelligence and could face a catastrophic winter if its central ally walked away.
Putin is unlikely to retreat from his main goal of subjugating Ukraine and will instead push for a revised version of the current plan that more fully reflects Russia’s interests.
Morning opening: Secretive talks in Abu Dhabi
Jakub Krupa
The US army secretary Daniel Driscoll is reportedly meeting with Russian and Ukrainian officials for talks in Abu Dhabi today in another attempt to bridge the gap between the original US peace plan, informed by Russian demands, and the Ukrainian response, backed by Europe.
Driscoll has already met with the Russians on Monday night, FT reported (£), although there was no official confirmation of the discussions. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the meeting, saying he had “nothing to say” about the talks.
It is not immediately clear who takes part in both delegations, but media reports suggest that Ukraine will be represented by Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Ukrainian defence ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR).
The meetings come after Geneva talks over the weekend, with Ukraine pushing back against some of the maximalist demands put forward by Russia.
But, despite the diplomatic efforts, Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine, with another wave of strikes overnight killing at least six and injuring 13 people.
Its attack on the capital, Kyiv, knocked out water, electricity, and heat in parts of the city, it was reported, with further damage also recorded to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The French president Emmanuel Macron has warned this morning against a deal ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine that would amount to a “capitulation” by Kyiv, stressing it would “give Russia all the freedom to go further, including to other European [countries] and put everyone’s security in danger.”
In an interview with RTL radio, Macron said that any peace deal would have to be strong enough to hold and prevent Russia from re-invading Ukraine “six months, eight months later, two years later.”
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Tuesday, 25 November 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
