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Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell helped to broker the 30-day ceasefire proposal accepted by Volodymyr Zelensky, as Britain attempts to act as a bridge between the US and Ukraine.
The No 10 fixer travelled to Kyiv over the weekend to meet with Mr Zelensky and help draft the proposal, which included a temporary pause in fighting before confidence building measures such as a prisoner-of-war exchange.
It comes amid a concerted European effort, led by Sir Keir, over the last week to restore good working relations between the US and Ukraine.
Sources told the BBC Mr Powell worked closely with his US counterpart Mike Waltz, as well as German and French officials to get the agreement over the line, a breakthrough which was later hailed by Sir Keir as “remarkable”.
“As both American and Ukrainian delegations have said, the ball is now in the Russian court. Russia must now agree to a ceasefire and an end to the fighting too,” Sir Keir added.
Meanwhile, The Independent understands foreign secretary David Lammy spoke with his US counterpart Marco Rubio and the Ukrainian foreign minister on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s talks.
Mr Powell, who negotiated the controversial Chagos deal earlier this autumn, formerly served as Tony Blair’s chief of staff, a position which saw him play a key role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
It comes as the PM attempts to act as a bridge between Europe and the United States after urging Mr Trump not to freeze Ukraine out of peace talks with Vladimir Putin over the war.
On Tuesday it was announced that Ukraine has accepted Donald Trump’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia during crunch talks in Saudi Arabia.
After more than eight hours of negotiations in Jeddah between US and Ukrainian officials, there was fresh optimism that peace talks were back on track after last month’s disastrous meeting between the US president and Mr Zelensky.
Washington has restored military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv and Mr Trump has said Mr Zelensky would “absolutely” be invited back to the White House, less than two weeks after the pair’s extraordinary Oval Office clash.
In a joint statement between the two countries, Ukraine said it “expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation”.
The statement added: “The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”
Mr Zelensky, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal” that covers the front line in the conflict, not just fighting by air and sea.
It follows a gathering of military chiefs in Paris on Tuesday, aimed at thrashing out commitments for what Sir Keir dubbed the “coalition of the willing”: the group of nations that want to lead peacekeeping forces in Ukraine should a deal be struck.
And on Wednesday, defence secretary John Healey will meet his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Poland in Paris to discuss joint work on building up Europe’s deterrent against Russia.
Downing Street and the Foreign Office have been contacted for comment.
