Sunak: Talks on Ceasefire in Ukraine Pointless

On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine are meaningless in the current situation as long as Russian troops remain in that country.

"We must be clear that any unilateral call for a ceasefire by Russia is completely meaningless in the current context. I think it would be a false call," his office quoted him as saying at a meeting with his Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) counterparts.

He called on the West to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine. "That means more air defense systems, it means artillery, it means armored vehicles," he said. 

"For our part in the United Kingdom, we have pledged to match or exceed the $2.8 bln  in aid that we provided this year next year and I would very much hope and encourage others around the table to do whatever they can to continue the strong support."

According to the British prime minister, the JEF countries could take part in drawing up security guarantees for Ukraine after the end of the conflict. Apart from that, Sunak called on the European countries to tighten sanctions pressure on Russia to reduce its economic potential.

Founded in 2014, the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a UK-led expeditionary force made up of Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway. JEF countries conduct joint military exercises on a regular basis.