Starmer threatens Putin with more sanctions if Russia resists ceasefire calls

16 June 2025, 09:35 | Updated: 16 June 2025, 14:24

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Britain's G7 allies will discuss slapping more sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin continues to resist calls for an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister said these discussions will 'undoubtedly' take place as he gears up to meet world leaders at a G7 summit in Canada this week.

He is likely to hold bilateral talks with leaders including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend as ceasefire talks drag on three years into its war with Russia.

While he has accepted a US-backed proposal and offered to talk directly with Putin, the Russian President has not yet agreed to meet him.

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Speaking to reporters on Monday, Sir Keir said Mr Zelenskyy's appearance at this week's summit offers a good opportunity to discuss the prospect of slapping fresh sanctions down on Moscow.

'We’ve got President Zelenskyy coming, so that provides a good opportunity for us to discuss again as a group.' he said.

Sir Keir added: 'My long-standing view is we need to get Russia to the table for an unconditional ceasefire.

'That’s not been really straightforward. But we do need to be clear about we need to get to the table and that if that doesn’t happen, sanctions will undoubtedly be part of the discussion at the G7.'

The conflict in Ukraine is expected to be top of the agenda, with discussions on the escalating tensions in the Middle East also expected to be a key fixture.

Peace talks have stalled in recent weeks with Trump declaring he is 'very angry and p***** off' with Putin for blocking a deal.

Russia has previously suggested no ceasefire will be agreed while Mr Zelenskyy is in power.

It came after Mr Trump threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil unless a deal can be made to 'stop the bloodshed.'

A Kremlin minister has warned Russia will never agree to a peace plan while the so-called 'root causes' for its invasion of Ukraine remain in place.

In Russia, the term 'root cause' is used as shorthand for Ukraine’s Western-allied government.'

'We have not heard from Trump a signal to Kyiv to end the war,' Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

'All that exists today is an attempt to find some kind of scheme that would first allow us to achieve a ceasefire, as imagined by the Americans, and then move on to some other models and schemes. [But] as far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand; namely to resolve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict.'

He added: 'We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can’t accept all this as it is.'