Starmer plans Zelensky talks amid fear of Russian oil ‘windfall’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he would soon meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sir Keir Starmer is planning to hold talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky amid fears the oil price rises due to the Middle East crisis could result in a “windfall” for Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister said he would meet the Ukrainian president soon to maintain focus on the war despite international attention being diverted by the Iran conflict.
The rise in energy prices caused by the Middle East turmoil has benefited Russia despite the sanctions imposed on its industries.
The US temporarily loosened sanctions preventing other countries buying Russian oil and petroleum already loaded on vessels at sea to try to ease the pressure on global supplies triggered by the US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against Gulf states.
The conflict could also constrain supplies of air defence missiles for Ukraine because of the surge in demand in the Middle East.
The Prime Minister and Canadian counterpart Mark Carney discussed the situation in Downing Street before Sir Keir held a press conference on the Iran crisis.
Sir Keir said: “I met Prime Minister Carney earlier this morning and I’ll be meeting President Zelensky soon, because it’s vital that we continue to focus on supporting Ukraine.
“We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin.”
In their No 10 talks, Sir Keir thanked Mr Carney for Canada’s “invaluable” support for the “coalition of the willing” – the UK and French-led initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process.
