British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned that any peace agreement on Ukraine must not embolden Iran in a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday.
"We have to win the peace," Starmer said. "And that's what we must do now. Because it can't be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran. We agree history must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader. So the stakes, they couldn't be higher."
Trump, speaking alongside Starmer, said it was necessary to secure a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
The visit comes ahead of Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slated for Friday.
On Sunday, Zelensky said Russia launched 267 attack drones on Ukraine, marking the largest single assault since the use of Iranian-made projectiles began following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine—the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages," he said in a post on X.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury levied sanctions on six entities in Hong Kong and mainland China it said facilitate the acquisition of parts for armed drones produced by Iran, as part of Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran.
“Iran continues to try to find new ways to procure the key components it needs to bolster its UAV weapons program through new front companies and third-country suppliers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on Wednesday, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.
The US state department said Washington was determined to thwart the program.
"These programs produce missiles and drones that Iran uses against our allies and exports to its terror proxy groups and Russia," it said in a statement.
Iranian drones have repeatedly been deployed in attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and other civilian targets. The Shahed 136 drone is typically launched alongside cruise and ballistic missile attacks to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.
