BRITAIN still stands for war in Ukraine, ministers assured MPs in a bid to quash speculation that the government might be shifting towards supporting negotiation.

Foreign Office minister Catherine West told the Commons today that the government was stepping up its “iron-clad” support to Kiev in continuing the fight against Russia.

“There is no change in the UK position,” Ms West said, adding that Ukraine must “achieve a just peace on its own terms” and only the Ukrainian government could determine what those terms were.

She also appealed to MPs in all parties to use their contacts in the United States to influence the attitude of the incoming Trump administration, which Labour fears might pursue a compromise peace.

Hopes of a shift in government position had risen after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had spoken at the London Lord Mayor’s banquet of putting Ukraine in “the strongest possible position for negotiations.”

Such negotiations are seen as inevitable once US President-elect Donald Trump is in office.

The reference to talks led shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel to question why “the government is now framing this through the lens of negotiation,” claiming this was a policy shift.

But Labour backbenchers are still calling for “total victory” for Ukraine.

And Sir Keir himself revealed the imperialist mindset of his policy when he told his City audience that “the further Russian troops advance, the closer the threat becomes.

“The more land they control, the more they control grain prices and energy sources, and the more confident [Russian President Vladimir] Putin becomes,” he said.

Ms West also unburdened herself of a patronising lecture to the Georgian government, rebuking it for turning away from the West and criticising some of its legislation.

While she did not endorse the call from foreign affairs committee chairwoman Emily Thornberry for the recent elections, which yielded a result against Nato expectations, to be re-run, she did demand that purported irregularities in the poll be investigated.

The government is presently conducting a strategic defence review led by former Nato secretary-general, and veteran Labour rightwinger, George Robertson, who confirmed that Washington was supervising the process.

He told a committee of MPs that not only is the US being fully consulted about the review but also that there is a US military officer attached to the team conducting it.