Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin has to come to table ‘sooner or later’, Starmer says as he warns ‘not to play games’ – UK Times

Around 25 countries are set to join a meeting hosted by Sir Keir Starmer to discuss a peacekeeping force for Ukraine.

World leaders from countries including Britain, France, Australia and Canada will virtually meet on Saturday – but it is still unclear if one leader, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, will join.

The Italian prime minister has been critical of proposals to send troops to Ukraine to enforce any peace deal made with Russia.

Reports earlier this week suggested she would shun Saturday’s meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’, with sources telling The Telegraph that she is “not convinced” by the plans.

Ahead of the meeting on Saturday Giangiacomo Calovini, an MP from the ruling party in Italy, was unable to say whether she would take part in Saturday’s call.

We will update you as soon as we know whether Ms Meloni will be taking part in the morning.

Russian troops have recaptured the villages of Rubanshchina and Zaoleshenka in its western Kursk region, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

Russia has accelerated a push to drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk, where they took control of about 100 settlements in a surprise incursion into Russian territory last August.

After humiliating Zelensky into submission, Trump briefly put the ball into Putin’s court to accept a ceasefire, writes Jon Sopel. But the US president is not the master strategist he likes to think he is – and now has a crunch decision to make about what comes next.

Read our Voices comment here:

Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to host a virtual summit of around 25 countries on Saturday to discuss a peacekeeping force for Ukraine.

The countries in the “coalition of the willing”, which include Britain, France, Australia and Canada, will discuss how to help Kyiv deter future Russian aggression in the event of any peace deal.

The meeting will look at how countries plan to contribute to the coalition of the willing, ahead of a military planning session next week.

During his meeting, Sir Keir will call on Western leaders to make “concrete commitments”, including to ramp up economic pressure as well as military support to Ukraine to defend itself against increasing Russian attacks.

Some Ukrainians have been left without power after Russia targeted energy facilities in overnight airstrikes.

Ukraine’s largest private energy provider said on Saturday its energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions had been damaged by the strikes.

In a statement, DTEK said “damages are significant” and that some consumers in both regions were left without power.

Giangiacomo Calovini, an MP from the ruling party in Italy, was unable to say whether Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni would take part in Saturday’s call with the “coalition of the willing”.

He said: “I think there’s a discussion about it and I think a few hours ago there’s some contact between your Prime Minister and Giorgia Meloni because they are talking and trying to understand, which is the problem of the meeting of today.”

He added: “Our position now is that if the meeting is only to talk about the troops in Ukraine, it is not important now.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t send our troops (to) Ukraine, but we think it’s too early to talk about this topic.”

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Putin not to “play games” as he accused the Kremlin of having “complete disregard” for 30-day ceasefire proposals put by the US.

Sir Keir warned: “We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal.

“The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.”

Sir Keir added: “Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place, but the world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions.

“My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now. Until then we will keep working around the clock to deliver peace.”

Italy would want a “clear UN mandate” before committing troops to a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, a member of Italy’s ruling party has said.

Giangiacomo Calovini, an MP from the ruling Brothers of Italy party and a member of the Italian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme his country was not opposed to peacekeeping operations.

He said: “Absolutely we are not against sending Italian troops to help a population, but I think at this moment probably there are no troops that are able to solve the problem in Ukraine.

“We can only send troops if there is a clear UN mandate and for now, this is impossible.”

He added: “I think it is too early and we have to wait for it. After a decision from UN headquarters, there is no problem for Italy, but now it’s really, really too early for us.”