British Prime Minister Keir Starmer; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left,;and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, meet at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. SUZANNE PLUNKETT / AP
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Tuesday, March 17, that "the focus must remain on Ukraine" despite the US-Israeli war with Iran, as the Ukrainian president made his latest stop on a tour of European capitals. Starmer welcomed Zelensky to his official Downing Street residence after the latter visited Paris last week, and ahead of a trip to Madrid on Wednesday.
The visits come as the Middle East conflict overshadows Ukraine's four-year fight against Russia's invasion. The United States is pushing Kyiv and Moscow to agree to an elusive peace deal, but a third round of three-party talks has been derailed by the Iran war and no new date for discussions has been set. Washington has also partly rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices sent soaring by the Middle East war conflict.
"I think it's really important that we are clear that the focus must remain on Ukraine," said Starmer. "There's obviously a conflict in Iran going on, in the Middle East, but we can't lose focus on what's going on in Ukraine and the need for our support," he added.
