Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has underscored the UK’s commitment to furnishing Ukraine with “solid and trustworthy” security assurances aimed at deterring Russia from striking again. As of now, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has not endorsed the US-negotiated ceasefire proposal while combat operations persist.
“We will bolster Ukraine’s own defenses and military forces and stand ready to act as a ‘coalition of the willing’ in the event of a peace agreement, to aid in securing Ukraine on land, at sea, and in the air,” Starmer stated following a virtual meeting with 25 European Union leaders, alongside leaders from other nations, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We have concluded that military planners must reconvene in the UK this week to advance specific plans on how our militaries can support Ukraine’s future security,” Starmer revealed.
The meeting took place after Putin provisionally agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington, which Ukraine has already accepted. However, on Friday, Putin claimed that there are matters to be resolved, such as who should oversee the ceasefire and whether Kyiv might use this time to mobilize new forces. This proposition comes as Russia is gaining ground in Kursk, where part of the Russian region bordering Ukraine was seized by Ukrainian forces in an unexpected campaign in August.
Doubt lingers regarding whether Putin’s reply denoted a genuine step toward peace or a strategy to continue the war without outright rejecting the United States’ proposal — a stance which could antagonize President Donald Trump. Thus far, the Kremlin has capitalized significantly as Trump drastically reverses the US foreign policy by weakening the transatlantic alliance while seeking to develop a rapport with Russia.
“The Kremlin’s hesitation and procrastination over President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, and Russia’s continued brutal onslaught on Ukraine, are in complete opposition to President Putin’s publicly stated desire for peace,” Starmer declared.
Shortly after the virtual meeting, Zelenskyy urged his Western allies to articulate a “definite stance” on security guarantees, including the potential deployment of troops in Ukraine.
“The troops must be stationed on Ukrainian soil,” Zelenskyy commented on social media. “This is a security guarantee for Ukraine as well as a security guarantee for Europe.”

Conflict persists across multiple fronts

While the discussions unfold, combat operations on the ground persist.
In the Kursk region, military analysts indicate that Russia is on the verge of expelling Ukrainian forces from their established positions in the western Russian region, prompting warnings from Trump that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are “completely encircled”.
In a social media statement following a briefing by his top military advisor, Zelenskyy maintained that Kyiv’s troops in Kursk are not surrounded but claimed that Moscow is amassing forces nearby for a separate assault. The shifting dynamics in Kursk undermine Ukraine’s bargaining power regarding territorial negotiations. Zelenskyy acknowledged on Saturday that territorial issues were “complex” and suggested they should be deliberated in detail at a later time.
Zelenskyy also referred to the battlefield situation near Pokrovsk, a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine, stating that the situation has “stabilized” and that Ukraine has effectively employed a newly developed domestic long-range missile in combat.
In further developments, both Russia and Ukraine engaged in intense aerial bombardments, with both sides reporting over 100 enemy drones in their respective territories. A fire erupted near an oil facility in Russia’s Volgograd region following a Ukrainian drone strike.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, they intercepted 126 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 64 of them destroyed over the Volgograd region. Drones were also shot down over Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov, and Kursk regions.