STORY: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday (August 18) that a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is in "everyone's interest," adding that "we've got to get this right."

Starmer is among a cluster of European leaders travelling to Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who is first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this evening.

Trump, who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday (August 15) for talks aimed at ending the war, has urged Kyiv to make a deal with Moscow, stating, "Russia is a very big power, and they're not."

Zelenskiy, who wants security guarantees from the U.S., has all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals from the Alaska meeting, including for Ukraine to give up the rest of its eastern Donbas region.

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VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITE OF BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER ON WAY TO WASHINGTON FOR MEETING WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY AND US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: BLURRING AT SOURCE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN AIR (AUGUST 18, 2025) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (KEIR STARMER VIA X - No Archive. No Resale. Must on-screen courtesy KEIR STARMER VIA X)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, KEIR STARMER, SAYING:

"This war in Ukraine has been going on a really long time now. Three plus years. Hugely impacted Ukrainians who suffered hugely, but it's also impacted Europe. It's impacted every single family and community in the United Kingdom. And so everybody wants it to end, not least the Ukrainians. But we've got to get this right. We've got to make sure there is peace, that it is lasting peace and that it is fair and that it is just. That's why I'm travelling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face to face with President Trump and President Zelenskiy, because it's in everyone's interests, it is in the UK interests that we get this right."