Starmer vows new sanctions on Russia and nuclear energy support for Ukraine

Keir Starmer will announce sanctions against Russia at the G7 summit on Tuesday and is expected to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Keir Starmer will announce sanctions against Russia at the G7 summit on Tuesday and is expected to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images Starmer vows new sanctions on Russia and nuclear energy support for Ukraine G7 told ‘we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes’, with Russia’s finance networks and shadow fleet targeted Keir Starmer has vowed to “choke off” Russian revenue with further sanctions and to provide hundreds of millions of pounds worth of energy support for Ukraine, as he met world leaders in France for the G7. After a torrid political week at home , the British prime minister sought to put himself on the front foot on the international stage at the meeting of the group of seven, which kicked off on Monday in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains, on the shore of Lake Geneva. Starmer is expected to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, the first full day of the summit. He will announce sanctions against Russia, days after British troops seized a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel. He is also set to use the meeting to reassure Donald Trump he is willing to raise defence spending, after the resignation of his defence secretary, John Healey , last week and ongoing delays to his defence investment plan – but is not expected to have a bilateral meeting with the US president. View image in fullscreen British troops seized the Smyrtos, a Russian shadow fleet vessel, in the Channel in the early hours of Sunday. More vessels will be targeted as part of the new sanctions. Photograph: LPhot Hutchins/MoD Crown copyright/PA The defence investment plan is now expected to be published before the Nato summit in Ankara in Turkey, which begins on 7 July. After a series of devastating Russian attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure, Starmer has pledged £210m for Ukraine’s nuclear plants for the next two years, which he said would “power Ukraine through the winters ahead”. “We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and this announcement reinforces that,” he said. “Putin should roll back his tanks, end his barbaric strikes and come to the negotiating table.” Government officials said the UK Export Finance investment in Urenco, a multinational uranium enrichment company 33% owned by the UK government, would supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear power producer, Energoatom. The deal was agreed between Starmer and Zelenskyy during their meeting at Downing Street last week. View image in fullscreen Demonstrators protested in Geneva, Switzerland, against the G7 summit, which is taking place in nearby Évian-les-Bains in France. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock The ag