Starmer urges Trump not to abandon Ukraine in press to end Russian war

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer used a visit to Washington on Thursday to press 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 premier started 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.

“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 warned.

Starmer’s visit came after French President Emmanuel Macron was in Washington earlier this week to make a similar case to Trump, and a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit the White House. The British leader leaned into the idea that Trump was the glue to maintaining the peace in Ukraine should the three-year war end.

The press by Starmer and Macron this week reflects 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.

Some of Trump’s comments during Starmer’s visit may only add to Europe’s anxiety. The American leader expressed confidence that Putin won’t press to restart the war if a truce can be reached.

“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 “Russia hoax” is a reference to the FBI and Justice Department special counsel investigation that examined whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the U.S. election.

Special counsel Robert Mueller found that although the Trump campaign welcomed Russia’s help in the form of the release of hacked emails stolen from Democrats, there was insufficient evidence to prove that the campaign had colluded with Moscow.

Trump’s rapprochement with Russia has unsettled America’s historic allies in Europe. They have found themselves on their heels with Trump returning to the White House with a determination to dramatically make over U.S. foreign policy to correspond with his “America First” world view.

The Trump administration held talks last week with Russia without Ukrainian or other European allies represented. And this week, the U.S. refused to sign on to resolutions at the United Nations blaming Russia for the war. The drifting White House view of Ukraine under Trump is leading to a tectonic shift in transatlantic relations.

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,” Starmer said.

At a White House meeting Friday, Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to sign off on a contentious agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, which are used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries. Zelenskyy had chafed at a deal without specific security guarantees from Washington.

Trump remains noncommittal about any coming American security guarantees, and underscored that Russia would think twice about attacking Ukraine should the U.S. 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 doesn’t flare up again.

But White House officials are skeptical that Britain and France can assemble enough troops from across Europe, at least at this moment, to deploy a credible peacekeeping mission to Kyiv.

Zelenskyy, while en route to Washington, met on Thursday with Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, who said he told Zelenskyy that Ireland is open to helping, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy and European officials have no illusions about U.S. 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 U.S. backstop for European forces on the ground — through U.S. aerial intelligence, surveillance and support, as well as rapid-response cover in case of breaches of a truce.

Trump is also looking at the moment as an opportunity to potentially reopen economic relations with Russia after three years of U.S.-led sanctions to punish Moscow for the invasion.

Starmer is hosting a Sunday meeting in the United Kingdom of international leaders that will focus on Ukraine, and Zelenskyy is expected to attend. The prime minister also announced plans this week for the U.K. to bolster defense spending, something that should sit well with Trump, who has been critical that European allies are spending too little on defense.

Starmer’s government will increase military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027, years earlier than expected, and aim to reach 3% by 2035.

“The disaster in Ukraine shows exactly why it’s so important for the United Kingdom and other NATO partners to make large investments in their defense capabilities,” Trump said. “You’re raising it quite a bit, which is a great thing to do for your country. It’s a great thing to do. It’s sad that we need that, but probably need that.”

Associated Press writers Panagiotis Pylas in London and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.