'Ball is in Russia's court': Starmer announces meeting of military chiefs in UK next week

UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday said that military chiefs will meet in the country next week to discuss peacekeeping plans in Ukraine that will protect any future ceasefire.

“We agreed to accelerate our practical work to support a potential deal, so we will now move into an operational phase,” Starmer said after hosting a virtual meeting of some 25 fellow leaders.

In a statement released by Starmer’s Downing Street office, he added: “We agreed that now the ball was in Russia’s court.”

“President Putin must prove he is serious about peace, and sign up to a ceasefire on equal terms. The Kremlin’s dithering and delay over President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, and Russia’s continued barbaric attacks on Ukraine, run entirely counter to President Putin’s stated desire for peace.”

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PM Starmer says Putin must ‘come to the table’, insists ‘ball is in Russia’s court’ Starmer says Putin is 'not serious about peace', cannot be allowed to 'play games' with Ukraine ceasefire

‘Putin has to come to the table’

Earlier today, Starmer asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop playing games” as he chaired a summit to drum up support for a coalition willing to protect any eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

He said that President Putin would “sooner or later” have to “come to the table” about the US-proposed ceasefire deal.

While Ukraine had shown it was the “party of peace” by agreeing to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, “Putin is the one trying to delay,” he said.

“If Putin is serious about peace, I think it’s very simple, he has to stop his barbaric attacks on Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire, and the world is watching,” Starmer added.

Russia, Ukraine down drones

Russia on Saturday said it brought down 126 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Volgograd and Voronezh regions while Kyiv said that 130 Russian drones have been brought down by its forces.

The defence ministry said 64 drones were intercepted over Volgograd and neighbouring Voronezh and the rest targeted border regions.

Moscow on Saturday also announced that it has regained control over two more villages from Ukrainian forces in its Kursk border region.

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With inputs from agencies