LONDON, August 16. /TASS/. The United Kingdom welcomes US President Donald Trump's efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and is also ready to toughen sanctions against Russia, if Moscow does not take steps to de-escalate the conflict, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced.

According to his statement, "President Trump’s efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending" the conflict in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister promised that London "will keep tightening the screws" regarding Moscow "with even more sanctions, which have already had a punishing impact on the Russian economy and its people."

Starmer said he held talks with Vladimir Zelensky, Trump and European leaders on Saturday.

"We all stand ready to support this next phase [of the negotiations]," the British Prime Minister assured stressing that the further talks should involve Zelensky.

"The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him," Starmer said.

He also mentioned security guarantees for Ukraine, which London and European countries insist on.

"I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal," the British prime Minister said. He name it "important progress" to prevent the repetition of the conflict.

On August 15, a summit between Russia and the US took place at a military base in Alaska. The talks lasted more than three hours and included several formats: one-on-one in the American leader's limousine en route to the main venue and in a small group of "three on three."

Following the talks, Putin told the press that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit. The Russian leader also called for a new beginning in bilateral relations and a return to cooperation. He invited Trump to Moscow. For his part, the US president announced the progress achieved in the talks but noted that the two sides had not reached an agreement on everything.