Starmer vows new sanctions on Russia and nuclear energy support for Ukraine | G7
Keir Starmer vowed to “cut off” Russia’s income with more sanctions and provide Ukraine with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of energy support as he met world leaders in France for the G7.
After a fiery political week at home, the British prime minister sought to thrust himself into prominence on the international stage at the meeting of the group of seven, which began Monday in the spa town of Évian-les-Bains on France’s Lake Geneva.
Starmer is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the first full day of the summit.
He will announce sanctions against Russia just days after British troops seized a Russian stay-behind fleet oil tanker in the Channel.
He will also use the meeting to reassure Donald Trump that he is willing to increase defense spending following last week’s resignation of defense secretary John Healey and ongoing delays to his defense investment plan; However, he is not expected to hold a bilateral meeting with the US president.
The defense investment plan is expected to be published before the NATO summit, which will start on July 7 in Ankara.
Following a series of devastating Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Starmer pledged £210 million for Ukraine’s nuclear power plants over the next two years, saying it would “power Ukraine through the coming winters”.
“We will stand by Ukraine no matter how long it takes, and this announcement reinforces that,” he said. “Putin must withdraw his tanks, end his barbaric attacks and come to the negotiating table.”
The UK Export Finance investment in Urenco, a multinational uranium enrichment company 33% owned by the UK government, will supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear energy producer Energoatom, government officials said. The agreement was agreed at a meeting between Starmer and Zelenskyy in Downing Street last week.
The agreement, which follows a two-year agreement to supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine, will support UK jobs and exports, with a third of the uranium content coming from Urenco’s processing plant in Chester, officials said.
New sanctions against Russia will target financial networks and bring to more than 600 the number of ships targeted as part of Moscow’s shadow fleet carrying oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The new measures will also target a Russian state-linked network that secretly supplies western technology for the Russian military and suppliers who help Russia illegally move money around the world.
Bringing together leaders from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, with leaders of other nations as well as the EU invited to the talks, the G7 will seek to shore up US waning support for Ukraine, but will also focus on the nascent peace deal between the US and Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Sunday, thousands of anti-G7 protesters, including environmentalists and feminists, clashed with police in Geneva, setting fire to a car and breaking the windows of a bank.
Starmer could face tough questions from Trump, whose White House has urged Britain not to implement a social media ban on under-16s announced on Monday.
Senior US officials stated that Trump will attend the G7 working session with Zelenskyy on Tuesday, but the US president will not hold a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
Trump will hold bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron as well as the leaders of Egypt, India, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the summit, an official said.
