Peter Mandelson said on Sunday, in the wake of a heated televised meeting between Donald Trump and Volodomyr Zelenskyy, he thinks Ukraine “should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow”.
However, Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast: “That’s not government policy.”
He said it is right Ukrainians want peace, but added: “We’re still in discussions, diplomatic engagement with our European, US and Ukrainian friends as to the shape of that deal.”
Mr Pollard said it was important a peace deal is “lasting and durable” and involves European countries, but crucially with US backing to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from renaging on it.
Lord Mandelson’s comment came after Mr Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington DC, to secure a ceasefire agreement with Russia and a possible mineral deal with the US, ended prematurely as the US and Ukrainian presidents clashed at an Oval Office meeting in front of the media.
Sir Keir Starmer then hosted a summit on Sunday of European leaders, plus NATO’s secretary general and the Canadian prime minister, in London to agree on what they could do for Ukraine.
The prime minister said Europe “must do the heavy lifting”, and the UK “is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others”.
He also announced a new deal allowing Ukraine to use £1.6bn of UK export finance to buy 5,000 more air defence missiles.
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