Starmer pledges sanctions and £210m for Ukraine at G7

Keir Starmer has pledged to cut Russian revenue through new sanctions and to give Ukraine hundreds of millions of pounds in energy support as he met world leaders at the G7 summit in France.

The British prime minister arrived in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains on the shore of Lake Geneva after a difficult week in domestic politics. The summit opened on Monday.

Starmer is due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. He will announce sanctions against Russia days after British troops seized a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel.

He is also expected to tell US President Donald Trump that Britain is prepared to increase defence spending. Starmer will not hold a bilateral meeting with Trump. The UK defence investment plan is now due before the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, which begins on 7 July.

Starmer said Britain would provide £210m over the next two years to help Ukraine's nuclear plants after Russian strikes damaged power infrastructure. The money, 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," Starmer said. "Putin should roll back his tanks, end his barbaric strikes and come to the negotiating table."

Officials said the funds would come through UK Export Finance and go to Urenco, a uranium enrichment company one-third owned by the British government. The uranium would be supplied to Ukraine's nuclear power producer, Energoatom. One-third of the uranium would come from Urenco's plant in Chester. The deal was agreed during Starmer's meeting with Zelenskyy at Downing Street last week.

The new sanctions will target Russian finance networks and increase the number of shadow fleet vessels carrying oil or liquefied natural gas to more than 600. They will also hit a Russian state-linked network that procures Western technology for Russia's military and suppliers that help Russia move money abroad.

The G7 leaders will try to maintain US support for Ukraine. They will also discuss a possible peace deal between the United States and Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

On Sunday, thousands of anti-G7 protesters clashed with police in Geneva. Demonstrators set a car on fire and broke bank windows.

Starmer may face questions from Trump over Britain's planned social media ban for under-16s, which the White House urged Britain not to impose. Trump is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Egypt, India, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the summit. He will join a working session with Zelenskyy but will not hold a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian leader.