A big gesture' Starmer hurries to show support for Kyiv with action, not words

As Keir Starmer and his aides discussed their response to Friday's calamitous White House meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the prime minister's team pondered whether to issue a statement on social media.

- Kiran Stacey

Already messages of support were flooding in for the Ukrainian president from other European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron of France and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

But the prime minister decided to stay silent, and instead display his backing with action rather than words. After several phone calls on Friday night, Starmer brought forward a planned visit by Zelenskyy to London, giving him the opportunity for a symbolic meeting at No 10, followed by an audience with the king.

"I picked up the phone to President Trump, and I picked up the phone to President Zelenskyy," Starmer told the BBC yesterday.

"I took to the phones. That was my response."

Starmer's flurry of diplomatic activity has resulted in a new Franco-British peace effort that puts the prime minister at the centre of Europe's attempt to shape a deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

"Starmer's was a big gesture," said Bronwen Maddox, the director of the Chatham House thinktank. "Having Zelenskyy here [and] having that meeting mattered. There is no need to go rushing around tweeting. He's now trying to be a bridge between the US and Zelenskyy and Europe, which is a reasonable ambition."

Some even believe this could be Starmer's "Falklands moment", referring to the way Margaret Thatcher took on Argentina over the Falkland Islands and in doing so also rebooted her flagging premiership. Yesterday morning, the prime minister was even being backed by the leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

"It's really important that this summit the prime minister is having goes well and we support him in that," Kemi Badenoch said.