Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, will urge G20 leaders to “double down” on their support for Ukraine, as he seeks to rally support for Kyiv ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president in January.
In a thinly veiled swipe at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who this week spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Starmer said: “It’s a matter for Chancellor Scholz who he speaks to. I have no plans to speak to Putin.”
Starmer hopes that Joe Biden will supply Ukraine with billions of dollars of loans in the dying days of his presidency and has also been pressing for US support to allow Kyiv to fire UK and French Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russian territory.