PM reiterates Ukraine support on fourth anniversary of Russian invasion

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to stand by the people of Ukraine for “as long as it takes” as he hit out at Vladimir Putin for blocking the path to peace.

The Prime Minister used an address to Cabinet on the fourth anniversary of Russian president Mr Putin’s invasion of his neighbour to praise the “incredible resilience” of Ukraine.

Sir Keir said: “This is not a remote conflict a long way away from the United Kingdom.

“It’s about our values of freedom, democracy and the right of a country to decide for itself what it does, which is democracy and sovereignty.”

The impact of the war was being felt in households across the UK due to the spike in energy prices since the invasion, he said.

“They are still 40% higher than they were before,” he said.

“So, every family is feeling it.

“And how and when this conflict ends is going to affect everybody in the United Kingdom for a very long time, which is why it is so important we make sure that it’s a just and lasting peace.”

But he said “it is Putin who is standing in the way” of that outcome.

The Prime Minister was speaking shortly after the UK announced sweeping sanctions aimed at crippling the supply of funds for Mr Putin’s invasion.

The giant pipeline company PJSC Transneft and 175 companies and 48 oil tankers involved in “shadow fleet” operations to supply Russian exports around the world in defiance of restrictions were hit by new sanctions.

Firms involved in providing components for Russian drones, banks and the nuclear power and gas industries were also among the almost 300 new sanctions.

Sir Keir said the sanctions were “essential in terms of weakening the ability of Russia to continue with this aggression”.

Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo was next to the Prime Minister as she attended her first Cabinet meeting since being promoted to the top Civil Service post.

The door to No 10 was decorated with a wreath with flowers in the yellow and blue colours of Ukraine, designed by artist Yulia Borysenko.

Sir Keir spoke of three personal impressions of “four long years of suffering in Ukraine”.

The Prime Minister said he went to Bucha near Kyiv in the early days of the war, where he saw “the roads and the ditches in which Ukrainian civilians were handcuffed with their hands behind their back, blindfolded and shot in the head, the bodies left in the road”.

He added: “The second etched in my memory was last year when I went to one of the busiest hospitals in Kyiv and saw for myself the incredibly awful burns on some of those who had returned from the front line. Burns the like of which I’d never seen in my life before.

“And at the same time, I went to a primary school and these children who were five, six, seven years old had lost both their parents to the conflict.”

Defence Secretary John Healey told the Press Association the war had been “four years of failure for Putin”.

He said: “This is a war he thought he would win in a week, he has lost more than a million men during that time and Russia has been fighting in Ukraine for longer than the Soviet Union was fighting Germany during the Second World War.”

Mr Healey added: “I want to make 2026, like President Zelensky does, the year that this war ends, that we can bring peace.

“The UK is ready to play a part in securing that peace for the long term.”

Western officials believe Russian troops are now being killed faster than Mr Putin is able to replace them.

Between 30,000 and 35,000 Russian soldiers are recruited each month, according to Western officials.

But the number of those killed over the past three months is believed to have been higher than those who joined up.

This means that for the first time in the four years of war, for a sustained period, Moscow’s battlefield numbers are falling.

The Western experts believe this will have a significant impact on the Kremlin’s ability to “generate offensive power” for a spring or summer offensive.