The growing scale of Russian attacks on Ukraine shows the growing recklessness of Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said. He said this at a joint press conference with United States President Donald Trump, Radio Liberty reports on 18 September.
“We need to keep up the pressure on Putin, and only when the President (Trump – ed.) was putting pressure on Putin did he show any willingness to move. So we need to keep that pressure up. I think it’s important to have this conversation in the context of the events of the last few weeks. We’ve seen the damage and the bombing of the British Council in Kiev,” Starmer said.
He said Russian strikes hit targets that “until recently were considered untouchable” – in addition to the British Council, Starmer cited damage to the European Union embassy and Cabinet of Ministers buildings.
He also pointed to the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace.
“If you put this together, we see either an elevation of spirit or at least an increase in recklessness on the part of Putin. That’s why I said earlier: these are not the actions of someone who seeks peace. So, we need to step up our efforts. And as we’ve discussed today, we’ve built a “coalition of the willing” through the leadership of Britain and France, who have taken on military planning – at sea, in the skies, on land – and building support for the Ukrainians themselves. And of course, along with the American guarantee, this is now an example of how Europe has been able to step up in recent months to show that we, along with the French, are ready to take leadership and take the necessary action,” Starmer said.
Trump said he expected that ending the war between Russia and Ukraine would be easy because of his relationship with Putin.
“He (Putin – ed.) has really let me down. He kills a lot of people and loses more people than he kills,” he stated.
At the same time, the US president expressed hope that he would eventually have “good news” regarding the situation with Russia.
Earlier on 18 September, US President Donald Trump arrived at the country estate of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer near London. The day before, the British royal family congratulated Donald Trump and his wife Melania with a feast at Windsor Castle.
Politico wrote that Ukraine’s allies are trying to do everything they can to keep Donald Trump on their side, and the King of England has been involved.