Starmer: No plans to talk to Putin

TT

Published 16.00

 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Archive photo. Photo: Ludovic Marin/AP/TT

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A spokesperson for Starmer said this after other European leaders opened up to resuming contact with the Kremlin.

– There are no plans for the Prime Minister to talk to President Putin. His focus on supporting Ukraine in order to ensure a just and lasting peace remains firm, the spokesperson said on Friday.

From elsewhere on the continent, things have sounded different. In December, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe may need to talk to Russia again because otherwise the Europeans risk being sidelined in the peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, in which Washington plays a central role.

Similar sentiments were heard from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week.

“I believe the time has come for Europe to talk to Russia,” she said.