The U.K. agreed to hold talks about its historical involvement in the slave trade in a joint statement with other Commonwealth leaders in Samoa, but continued to rule out the prospect of financial reparations.

The 55 Commonwealth nations agreed to play an “active role” in holding conversations to address the “harms,” particularly women and girls who “suffered disproportionately from these appalling tragedies in the history of humanity,” in the communique published Saturday.

Despite the issue not being on the formal agenda for the summit, a group of Caribbean nations asked European countries to compensate them for their slavery legacy. A Brattle Group report for the University of the West Indies and the American Society of International Law last year concluded the U.K. should pay 14 Caribbean nations as much as $24 trillion in reparations. That’s seven times the size of the U.K. economy.

However, the government continues to rule out payment and Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed that in a press conference after the communique was published. “In the two days we’ve been here, none of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear in relation to that,” he said.

Starmer said the next opportunity to discuss the issue was at a U.K.-Caribbean forum next year, and that the summit had been mostly focused on resilience and climate rather than slavery reparations.

British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade spanned three centuries until it was abolished in 1807, though a ban on enslaved labor in its colonies came later in 1833. Giving ground on slavery reparations could risk opening the door to broader discussions about British obligations for its history of colonialism. Commonwealth membership has its roots in the former British Empire, though it’s now open to all nations.

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