British Prime Minister Keir Starmer used a visit to Washington on Thursday to press US President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor.
With a mix of flattery and frank talk, the center-left Starmer made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The British prime minister began the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honor since Trump already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
Photo: AFP
“You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal — a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump. “That is the prize, but we have to get it right.”
Trump said that talks to end the grinding war are “very well advanced,” but also cautioned that there is only a narrow window to get a deal done.
“If it doesn’t happen quickly, it may not happen at all,” Trump said.
Photo: AFP
Starmer’s visit came after French President Emmanuel Macron was in Washington earlier this week to make a similar case to Trump, reflecting the mounting concern felt by much of Europe that Trump’s aggressive push to find an end to the war signals his willingness to concede too much to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘RUSSIAN HOAX’
Some of Trump’s comments during Starmer’s visit might add to Europe’s anxiety. The US leader expressed confidence that Putin would not press to restart the war if a truce can be reached.
Photo: Reuters
“I think he’ll keep his word,” Trump said of Putin. “I’ve spoken to him, I’ve known him for a long time now, we had to go through the Russian hoax together.”
The mention of the “Russia hoax” is a reference to the FBI and US Department of Justice special counsel investigation that examined whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the US election.
Special counsel Robert Mueller found that although the Trump campaign welcomed Russia’s help in the form of the release of hacked e-mails stolen from Democrats, there was insufficient evidence to prove that the campaign had colluded with Moscow.
After the joint news conference, Starmer told Fox News Channel if he was worried about Putin not living up to any eventual agreement and responded, “I’m concerned about that because, historically, that’s been the case.”
He said Putin’s history of reneging on agreements means that the UK and the rest of Europe would have to join with the US to make sure the Russian president follows through this time.
“We all need to come together to defend the deal if there is a deal,” Stramer said.
Starmer applauded Trump’s push to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also urged that “it can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor.”
“History must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader,” he said.
MINERALS AGREEMENT
Trump remains noncommittal about any coming US security guarantees, and insists that Russia would think twice about attacking again should the US build an economic footprint in Ukraine to extract critical minerals.
“We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country,” Trump said.
If a truce can be reached, Starmer and Macron have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine to ensure that fighting between Ukraine and Russia does not flare up again.
However, White House officials are skeptical that the UK and France can assemble enough troops from across Europe, at least at this moment, to deploy a credible peacekeeping mission to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, while en route to Washington to sign a minerals deal with Trump today, on Thursday met with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, who said he told Zelenskiy that Ireland is open to helping, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy and European officials have no illusions about US troops taking part in such a mission, but Starmer and others are trying to make the case that the plan can only work with a US backstop for European forces on the ground — through US aerial intelligence, surveillance and support, as well as rapid-response cover in case of breaches of a truce.
During the press conference alongside Starmer, Trump declined to offer such a guarantee, although when pushed he did say: “If they need help I will always be with the British.”
UK MEETING
Starmer tomorrow is to host a meeting in the UK of international leaders that would focus on Ukraine, and Zelenskiy is expected to attend.
The gathering would allow Starmer and Macron to debrief their European allies about their conversations with Trump in Washington.
Starmer has also invited the leaders of Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, the UK prime minister’s office said.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were also expected to attend.
Starmer would hold separate bilateral meetings with Zelenskiy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his office added.
The Europeans want Trump to offer US aerial intelligence, surveillance and air cover as a last resort to assist European peace-keeping troops should they come under attack from Russian forces after any peace deal.
Before the talks, a British official said even some ambiguity from the US could provide a deterrent, leaving Putin uncertain about what the US would do if he were to attack European peacekeepers.
However, the US and Europe each want the other to make their commitments first, making the discussions complex, the official said, asking not to be identified commenting on matters that are not public.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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