Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy told to apologise to Trump - as Kremlin reacts to military aid pause

Starmer spoke to Trump last night on Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman has said the prime minister spoke to Donald Trump last night to discuss Ukraine.

The spokesman said Starmer and Trump are aligned on the aim of securing a secure and lasting peace in Ukraine.

However, they declined to comment when asked if Trump informed Starmer of his plans to pause US military aid to Ukraine.

Earlier, a Polish foreign ministry spokesperson said Trump did not consult allies before deciding to pause aid to Ukraine (see our 10.36am post).

'Ukraine will not collapse, but the effect will be cumulative'

While Ukraine will not collapse after Donald Trump's decision to pause US military aid to the country, the effect will be cumulative, the deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence thinktank, has said.

Malcolm Chalmers explained that Trump's decision is not about economics, and is driven by his view that Russia is willing to do a peace deal, with Ukraine being the only obstacle.

"But there is no evidence that Russia would be prepared to accept a deal and what that would look like," he said. 

"Indeed, this decision will encourage Vladimir Putin to ask for more - including Ukrainian demilitarisation and neutrality."

Chalmers explained that the "nightmare scenario" would be the US and Russia announcing a deal soon and then telling Ukraine and Europe to "take it or leave it".

"The European offer of boots on the ground after a deal has helped reassure Ukraine," Chalmers added. 

"But the debate has now moved on. And what will count most of all is how far the UK and Europe are prepared to help Ukraine in defiance of the US.

"Recent estimates suggest that only 20% of total military hardware supplied to Ukrainian forces is now from the US. 55% is home-produced in Ukraine and 25% from Europe and the rest of the world, but the 20% is the most lethal and important."

Vance criticised after claiming troops from 'some random country' won't be enough for peace

The US vice president has been criticised for claiming a military presence from "some random country" as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine won't be enough to secure peace.

In an interview with Fox News, JD Vance said the only way to bring a lasting peace is to give Washington an economic interest in the future of Ukraine.

"If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine," he said.

"That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years."

Despite Vance's claim, hundreds of UK service personnel were killed while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Responding to Vance's comments, UK shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: "It's deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice."

For context: Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK, France and Ukraine will work together on a peace deal that could be presented to the US.

The countries committed to working together on this deal would form a "coalition of the willing".

Countries in the coalition could end up sending soldiers to act as peacekeepers in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

Ukrainian PM: US aid pause would impact ability to use key air defence system

More comments to bring you from Ukraine's prime minister now, who says the country will be vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles if the US stops giving military aid.

Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv - where our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes has been listening - Denys Shmyhal says he remains hopeful that a way would be found to keep the assistance going.

However, he says if the support does stop it would impact Ukraine's ability to use the American Patriot air defence system - which is the only weapon Ukraine has with the ability to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

US military support has saved 'probably dozens of thousands' of lives, Ukrainian PM says

At a news conference with Ukraine's prime minister, I asked whether more civilians would die and more land be taken by Russia as a result of Donald Trump deciding to pause US military support.

American military support to Ukraine has saved thousands - probably "dozens of thousands" - of lives already and the Ukrainian government is working in a "calm and diplomatic manner" to ensure it continues, Denys Shmyhal replied.

He repeatedly said Ukraine is "very grateful" to the US people, Congress and the administration for their support over the past more than three years of fighting against Russia's invasion.

He said American military support is "very important", spanning data exchanges to air defences, helping Ukrainian soldiers in the frontline and air defence operators to defend Ukrainian cities from Russian drone and missile attack.

"Those are very important elements that have saved thousands, probably dozens of thousands of lives of Ukrainian civilians and combatants," the prime minister said at a news conference.

He called the assistance "extraordinarily" important.

"The US remains our strategic, most important partner. We are grateful to the US and we will do our best to continue our cooperation at the same level. We will do this in a calm diplomatic manner."

Shmyhal also said Kyiv remains ready to sign a minerals deal with the US (as we reported at 10.49am).

'Trump is giving Russia everything they've been asking for'

Russia will not want to interrupt Donald Trump while he and his administration are "delivering to Russia everything that they've been asking for for years," Russian military expert Keir Giles has told Sky News.

"The last thing they want to do is interrupt their enemy when he's making a mistake," Giles said in an interview with presenter Wilfred Frost.

"The last thing you want to do is derail the process by which Donald Trump and those around him are delivering to Russia everything that they've been asking for for years."

However, he said Moscow will also be aware if the US cuts Ukraine free it "removes any last vestiges of leverage that the US had on Ukraine" in holding Kyiv back from striking deep into Russia and "doing damage that would actually genuinely affect Russia's chances of prosecuting the war".

"So there's reason within the Kremlin to actually be concerned about exactly where this is going from here, especially if it galvanises any kind of joint European reaction to try to support Ukraine better than it has been up until now."

Giles said the US has also been "chipping away" at other forms of support over the last week, including "the cutting off of funding that was helping Ukraine rebuild its critical infrastructure" and "the withdrawal of air assets providing an intelligence picture".

He said cutting off those other forms of support "could be just as damaging as the immediate cut off of military aid".

Asked what he thinks will happen on the ground over the next month, Giles said: "I don't expect any change at all because obviously Ukraine saw this coming and will have been preparing for this moment from the very first time it became clear that Donald Trump was even running for president.

"Any government that hasn't prepared for this and hasn't seen it coming has simply been criminally negligent."

Ukrainian PM: Kyiv ready to sign minerals deal with US

We're hearing from Ukraine's prime minister in what is the first reaction from the country after Donald Trump's decision to pause US aid.

Denys Shmyhal insists Ukraine's military has the tools to maintain frontlines after the pause in aid.

He says Ukraine will continue diplomatic work with the US via all available channels, stating it remains ready to sign a minerals deal with the US.

Shmyhal adds Kyiv will do everything to keep cooperation with the US at previous levels, saying US military aid is critical and helps save thousands of lives.

Trump did not consult allies before pausing aid to Ukraine, Poland says

Donald Trump did not consult allies before deciding to pause aid to Ukraine, a Polish foreign ministry spokesperson said.

"This is a very important decision, and the situation is very serious," Pawel Wronski told reporters.

"It has great political significance - it [the decision] was made without any information or consultation, neither with NATO allies nor with the Ramstein group, which is involved in supporting Ukraine in its fight."

It comes as Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also been speaking, saying a "sovereign, pro-Western Ukraine which can defend itself against Russian aggression means a stronger and safer Poland".

Senior Ukrainian politician compares situation to appeasement of Hitler

Donald Trump's pause of military aid to Ukraine looks as if he is trying to push Kyiv towards accepting Russia's demands, a senior Ukrainian politician has said, as he compared the situation to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler with the Munich Agreement of 1938.

"To stop aid now means to help [Vladimir] Putin," said Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"On the surface, this looks really bad. It looks like he is pushing us towards capitulation, meaning [accepting] Russia's demands. The main thing is that this is a psychological blow, a political blow upon Ukraine, it doesn't help our spirit."

He added: "This is worse than Munich, because at least there they didn't try to paint Czechoslovakia as the aggressor, but here they try to accuse the victim of aggression - it is extremely dangerous."

The Munich Agreement of 1938 allowed Nazi Germany to annex part of what was then Czechoslovakia.

-SKY NEWS