Sir Ed Davey has urged Britain to bolster Ukraine's bargaining power through enhanced military assistance, following peace talks in the US.
Speaking to GB News, the Liberal Democrat leader urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to "strengthen Volodymyr Zelensky's hand" in negotiations.
As Zelensky and European leaders gathered at the White House, US President Donald Trump said "substantial progress" had been made towards reaching peace in Ukraine.
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Sir Ed Davey has urged Sir Keir Starmer to 'strengthen Zelensky's hand' in negotiations following US summit
|REUTERS / GB NEWS
President Zelensky said of the US support for Ukraine: "We support the idea of the United States, of personally President Trump, to stop this war, to make a diplomatic way of finishing this war. And we are ready for a trilateral, as [Donald Trump] said."
Discussing the talks on GB News, Mr Davey said: "I think we're all digesting the news from overnight, but I still fear that Trump is driven by a desire to get a deal with President Putin and putting that above the long term interests of Ukraine and of European security.
"Now, I hope I'm wrong, I hope there's a deal that Ukraine would willingly sign up to, and there are hints that there could be some sort of security guarantees for Ukraine with America involved, that's welcome."
He warned that any agreement requiring Ukraine to surrender territory would constitute an unacceptable compromise.
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The Ukrainian President attended the summit hosted by Donald Trump in Washington | REUTERSMr Davey cautioned: "It's a bit vague at the moment, and there's a real worry that the price that would be exacted from Ukraine would be an unacceptable price in terms of giving up land, so I think we're digesting."
He also advocated for supplying "British Typhoon fighter aircraft" to "strengthen" President Zelensky's position in potential negotiations.
Mr Davey told GB News: "I have to say, I think the best response that Britain could make would be to strengthen the hand of Zelensky at negotiations by offering to increase our support for Ukraine, for example, with British Typhoon jet fighters.
"I think we have to make sure that Ukraine goes into those negotiations in the strongest possible way."
Mr Davey told GB News that Ukraine must enter negotiations in the 'strongest possible way'
|GB NEWS
The Liberal Democrats leader highlighted that President Putin had already secured a significant victory by obtaining agreement from the US President against implementing a ceasefire.
He said: "I'm afraid Putin has already won a big concession from President Trump about no ceasefire, and now Ukraine is expected to negotiate and turn up at some sort of summit with Putin while Russia is killing its children. I think that's totally unacceptable.
"So that's why we have to send a very strong signal to Moscow, to the Kremlin, and indeed to the White House that the UK, with its European allies, are there for the long term with Ukraine to defend its territory and to defend the security of our continent and indeed ultimately of the United Kingdom."
Mr Davey concluded by suggesting that the £27billion in Russian assets frozen within the UK should be redirected towards Ukrainian defence procurement.
He stated: "There's £27billion of frozen Russian assets, I believe, in the UK. I think that should be used to buy weapons for Ukraine and support Ukraine."