UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with US President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss a long-term peace agreement for Ukraine, warning ‘it can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor’.
Speaking during a joint press conference alongside Trump, following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Starmer recalled the Anglo-American alliance that brought about victory in Europe to end the Second World War, and said he welcomed what he described as Trump’s ‘deep and personal commitment to bring peace and to stop the killing in Ukraine.
UK PM Starmer said, “… We’re focused on bringing an end to the war in Ukraine…. I welcome your commitment to bring peace and to stop the killing… It can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran. History must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader…”
He added, “We discussed a plan today… that Ukraine will help shape, backed by strength, to stop Putin from coming back for more. I’m working closely with other European leaders, and I’m clear that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies because that is the only way that peace will last… Europe must step up… The UK is all in. This year, we’ll be giving more military aid to Ukraine than ever… We’re already one of the biggest spenders in NATO…”
Trump has alarmed Europeans with his sudden pivot towards Russia, said American leadership would be critical to maintaining peace in Ukraine should the three-year war end.
He also said he was confident that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not press to restart the war in the future. “I think he’ll keep his word. I think, I think he’s, I’ve spoken to him. I’ve known him for a long time now, you know. I’ve known him. We had, we had to go through the Russian hoax together. That was not a good thing, was not fair,” Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the White House on Friday to sign a deal on US access to Ukrainian minerals in exchange for as-yet unspecified continued assistance.
