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Ukraine is still on an “irreversible path” to joining NATO, Sir Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The UK and Ukrainian leaders spoke on the phone early on Friday, according to Downing Street.

The conversation came less than 24 hours after Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he didn’t see any way “that a country in Russia’s position” could allow Ukraine to join NATO.

Ukraine war latest: Russian drone strikes Chernobyl site

Mr Trump’s deputy Ukraine envoy John Coale also said on Thursday that NATO membership for Ukraine was still “on the table”.

The US president has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, and has said he wants to start negotiations.

He is also pushing for Europe to provide more support for Kyiv, and the US to spend less.

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‘Any bilateral negotiations about Ukraine without us – we will not accept’.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir began the conversation by “reiterating the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed”.

They added: “He was unequivocal that there could be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine.

“Ukraine needed strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future, and it could count on the UK to step up, he added.

“The prime minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to NATO, as agreed by allies at the Washington summit last year.

“Discussing the upcoming third anniversary of Ukraine’s courageous defence of its sovereignty in the face of Russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion, the leaders agreed that it would be an important moment to demonstrate international unity and support for Ukraine.

“The leaders also reflected on the prime minister’s visit to Kyiv last month, and the president updated on his plans at Munich Security Conference.

“They agreed to stay in close contact.”

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Ukraine has every reason to be worried

A statement on Mr Zelenskyy‘s social media said: “I informed Prime Minister Starmer about my discussion with President Trump and contacts with the American side. The Ukrainian and American teams must work together with Europeans and all our global partners to achieve concrete results.

“The security of each nation depends on strengthening our collective security. It is crucial that every new week brings tangible results that will ensure a lasting and reliable peace.

“We also discussed an action plan for the near future to shape a common strategy on security, economic cooperation, and political partnership.”

Starmer is finally standing up to Trump


Amanda Akass is a politics and business correspondent

Amanda Akass

Political correspondent

@amandaakass

After weeks of Donald Trump overturning long-established geopolitical relationships and exploding diplomatic expectations – the UK government is finally pushing back.

Abandoning our promises to Ukraine is a red line, even for a prime minister who has recently seemed more focused on getting back in the new president’s good books – in the hopes of avoiding punishing trade tariffs – than standing up for our old alliances.

Sir Keir Starmer’s early morning phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressing his “concrete support” for Ukraine, the promise of “strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future” and insistence that there should be no talks “about Ukraine without Ukraine” is a restatement of a long-held position not just for the UK but for all the western allies.

But earlier this week Mr Trump ripped up that consensus with his chummy 90-minute phone call with President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that Ukraine would have to give up territory and forsake its NATO ambitions in return for any peace deal.

Sir Keir’s strategy up to now has been to tip toe around his bombastic US counterpart, hoping that the rhetoric will ultimately become detached from reality. The UK didn’t utter a peep of complaint in response to the aggressive tariffs slapped on our close ally Canada.

Yet on Ukraine the PM is finally taking a more muscular stance – not just in his broader expression of support but specifically in his commitment to the country being on an “irreversible path to NATO, as agreed by allies at the Washington Summit last year”.

Joining NATO – where an attack on one is treated as an attack on all – would be the ultimate security guarantee for Ukraine. The Russians see it as the ultimate provocation.

Clearly NATO membership for Ukraine – without the support of its biggest member – would be nigh on impossible. But now the PM has shown he is willing to burn through his capital with Donald Trump in the interests of Ukraine. We don’t yet know what the mercurial president’s response will be; but it’s a decision which will be broadly supported in Westminster and beyond.

US officials appear set to meet with Russian counterparts at the Munich Security Conference to discuss an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

While Mr Trump said Ukraine is also invited to the talks, Kyiv has said it does not expect to have a discussion with Moscow today.

Mr Trump’s pronouncements on the talks – that Ukraine would not be able to return to its 2014 borders nor join NATO – have drawn criticism from Russia hawks and supporters of Ukraine.

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John Bolton, who was the president’s national security adviser in his first term, said: “Endless concessions to Moscow are a threat to American national security.

“This week the Trump [administration] blew up the NATO position on Ukraine and the Belovezha Accords, which broke up the Soviet Union. This puts every other former republic of the Soviet Union at risk of Russian aggression.”

According to the readout of the call between Sir Keir and Mr Zelenskyy, it does not appear that they discussed the missile strike on the Chernobyl nuclear powerstation overnight.

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

Pic: Reuters
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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

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China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

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There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
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These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

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The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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