Starmer backs Nato membership for Ukraine

Keir Starmer has reassured the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of Britain’s ‘commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato’ membership. The Prime Minister made the comments in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart this morning. This appears to be a rebuttal of comments made by senior members of US President Donald Trump’s team stating that Nato membership for Kyiv in the aftermath of the war with Russia is unrealistic. 

Starmer’s pledge to Zelensky comes after the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Wednesday during a defence summit in Brussels that ‘the United States does not believe that Nato membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement’ to end the conflict with Russia. His comments, made at a defence summit in Brussels, came hours before Trump revealed that he had spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier that day, agreeing to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine ‘immediately’.

The Prime Minister’s comments risk inflaming tensions between the UK, Europe and America, which are already fraying on the question of Russia, as well as trade and tariffs. Reports today suggest that Trump is potentially considering making America’s continued membership of the Nato alliance conditional on Europe’s agreement to buy more US-made weapons and military equipment – a further indication of the transactional lens through which the American president is viewing relations with the continent.

Many of Ukraine’s European allies claim to have been blindsided by Trump and Putin’s call earlier this week, accusing the US president of treating Kyiv as an afterthought and appeasing his Russian counterpart. Zelensky himself has expressed disappointment at the US president’s decision to speak to Putin first, saying proposals put to him by the White House so far are ‘definitely not enough to form a plan’ for peace in the conflict. Following the outcry from Kyiv’s other allies, Hegseth appeared to somewhat row back on his comments on Thursday evening, saying that ‘everything is on the table’ when it comes to negotiations to end the war.

Zelensky has long argued that Nato membership is the only meaningful way to guarantee Ukraine’s security following the end of the war with Russia – whenever and whatever form that will come in. At a summit in Washington DC last July, the 32 members of the alliance met to formally declare that Ukriane was on an ‘irreversible path’ to joining them as a member – nevertheless holding back from officially setting out a timeline over which that would happen.

The conversation between Starmer and Zelensky today comes as the Munich Security Conference gets under way in Germany. There, the Ukrainian premier is expected to meet with US Vice President J.D. Vance to discuss the conflict. Trump claimed yesterday a Russian delegation would also be joining them in Munich, something conference officials denied any knowledge of this morning. With the developments of this week, the spectre of Putin is set to haunt Munich for yet another year. Whether the European and American diplomats can find common ground over how to proceed on Ukraine remains to be seen.