Leaders make ‘material progress’ towards Ukraine peace

(left to right) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Allied leaders made “material progress” towards a ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday, Keir Starmer has said, as the pressure has been upped on Russia to accept a 30-day unconditional truce.

The British Prime Minister said on Saturday that European allies “together with the US” are “calling Putin out” and pledged to ramp up sanctions further if he “turns his back on peace”.