No time for slips Keir! PM practically takes a tumble as he arrives at G20 in Johannesburg – after practically falling down aircraft steps in Brazil
Sir Keir Starmer narrowly avoided another disaster after almost falling over as he arrived at the G20 summit in South Africa.
The Prime Minister arrived in Johannesburg on Saturday where he will meet Ukraine’s allies to discuss ways to ‘strengthen’ Donald Trump‘s 28-point peace plan to end the war with Russia.
Washington has pressed Ukraine to accept the agreement by Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned he faces a choice between losing a key partner and its national dignity at one of the most perilous moments in its history.
The plans, reportedly negotiated by the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev, would see Ukraine make major concessions to Moscow including giving up territory and cutting the size of its army.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Sir Keir said Ukraine’s friends and partners will meet ‘in the margins’ of the summit to discuss the ‘current proposal on the table’.
But, the Prime Minister got off to a humiliating start before crunch talks had even begun in the South African city.
He appeared to take quite a stumble as he approached a group of business leaders at the summit, before quickly regaining his composure and shaking their hands.
It is the second time this month that Starmer has lost his footing after a similar mishap saw him narrowly escape falling down the walkway of his plane while arriving at the COP30 conference in Brazil.
Keir Starmer appeared to take quite a stumble as he approached a group of business leaders at the G20 summit in South Africa
While approaching the group, he seemed to trip and fall before quickly regaining his composure
The PM’s attendance at the summit almost ended in immediate disaster when he stumbled on the top step of the stairs leading off his plane.
But Sir Keir averted the major mishap and managed to regain his balance as he and the Prince of Wales disembarked the aircraft together.
Such slip ups often inspire ridicule from political leaders, with former President Lyndon B. Johnson reportedly remarking that his election rival Gerald Ford ‘is so dumb that he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time’.
Labour MPs have questioned the number of air miles that Sir Keir is racking up, with his South Africa visit coming just days before a critical Budget.
One backbencher wondered if Sir Keir would rather be foreign secretary than PM.
But he insisted it was ‘really important’ for him to make the trip to Johannesburg – despite Donald Trump and other leaders snubbing the global gathering.
Mr Trump is shunning this weekend’s G20 summit – and is not be sending any US officials – after hitting out at the South Africa’s treatment of white farmers.
The US President has claimed Afrikaners are being ‘killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated’.
But South Africa’s government has rejected claims of a ‘white genocide’ as ‘widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence’.
Starmer is greeted by Deputy President of South Africa Paul Mashatile as he arrives at the G20 summit in Johannesburg
Delegates meet in the plenary hall on the opening day of the G20 Summit at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg
Japanese Buddhist Monk and Anti-nuclear campaigner Toyoshige Sekiguchi who is protesting outside the venue of the G20 summit
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Sir Keir said: ‘Ukraine’s friends and partners will meet in the margins of the G20 summit to discuss how we can secure a full ceasefire and create the space for meaningful peace negotiations.
‘We will discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of President Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations.’
He continued there ‘is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire’ as he condemned Moscow for sending nearly 1,000 drones and 54 precision guided missiles in the past week alone.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage.
‘That is why we must all work together, with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all.
‘We will continue to co-ordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who like Mr Trump is not attending the gathering of the world’s leading economies, on Friday cautiously welcomed the US proposal, saying it ‘could form the basis of a final peace settlement’.
But he said the plan had not been discussed with the Russian side ‘in any substantive way’ and that he assumed this was because the US had not been able to get Ukraine’s consent.
