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Speaking with reporters on the way to the meeting in Brazil,
Starmer said he wouldn’t speak to Putin as German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz did on Friday.
The call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin said was
initiated by Germany, was the first publicly announced
conversation between Putin and a major head of a Western power
in almost two years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the call and
said it would only make Russia less isolated.
Ukraine's allies fear that the election of President-elect
Donald Trump, who has questioned U.S. aid sent to Kyiv and
spoken favorably about Putin, could alter support from
Washington, its biggest backer
Starmer said allies have to double down now to support Ukraine
for as long as it takes.
“We are coming up to the 1,000th day of this conflict on
Tuesday,” Starmer said. “That’s 1,000 days of Russian
aggression, 1,000 days of huge impact and sacrifice in relation
to the Ukrainian people and recently we’ve seen the addition of
North Korean troops working with Russians which does have
serious implications.”
The U.K. has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16.15 billion) in
aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February
2022.
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