By Tim Cocks
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Thursday he saw no appetite from Russia for peace with Ukraine after listening to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov talk at a closed-door meeting of the top G20 diplomats in South Africa.
Lammy was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the world’s biggest economies, which has been overshadowed by dispute between members over the Ukraine war, among other disagreements.
“We have not got anywhere near a negotiated settlement,” he said, responding to a question about whether Britain would under any circumstances support deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine in the absence of security guarantees from the United States.
“And I have to say, when I listen to what the Russians and what Lavrov has just said in the chamber this afternoon, I don’t see an appetite to really get to that peace,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at a meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday that a U.S. security commitment was the only way to ensure lasting peace in Ukraine, and it was too early to say how many British peacekeeping troops he might send.
European leaders discussed but did not agree on deploying peacekeepers at that meeting, but pledged to boost their defence capabilities, as the Trump administration increasingly appears to adopt the Kremlin’s line on Ukraine.
“This is a critical moment, it’s essential for Europe to increase…defence spending to step up our commitment to our own defences across Europe,” Lammy said, reiterating a British target of spending 2.5% of GDP on it, and a pledge of aid to Ukraine.
“We’re committed to giving Ukraine 3 billion a year for as long as it lasts,” he said.
Trump stunned European allies last week by calling Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war without first consulting Ukraine or them.
“We look forward to speaking to President Trump more about this (Ukraine talks). We’re very, very clear there must be a role for Ukraine, it must be at the heart of these negotiations,” Lammy said.
(Reporting by Tim Cocks, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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