Keir Starmer will travel to Washington this week for his first official meeting with Donald Trump in office as tensions rise over the US President’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Prime Minister has insisted that he will use the talks to reiterate his “ironclad support” for Ukraine as well as secure “enduring peace to bring an end to Russia’s illegal war”.
Meanwhile, Trump and his administration have ramped up their criticism of Ukraine in the past week, with the US President branding Zelensky a “dictator”.
The rise in tensions has come ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which will take place on Monday.
Against this high-stakes backdrop, Starmer will travel to Washington in a few days, following in the French President’s footsteps. Emmanuel Macron will hold similar talks with Trump on Monday.
Here is what Starmer hopes to achieve from his talks with Trump:
The security situation in Ukraine remains a pressing concern, particularly in light of President Trump’s recent overtures towards Russia and the strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.
Starmer has stated he wants to use his talks with Trump to secure a firm commitment from the US regarding Ukraine’s sovereignty amid concerns that a peace deal could mean major territorial concessions.
In a call with Zelensky on Saturday, Starmer said that “safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Russia”.
Moscow currently controls around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, and Zelensky has demanded that these regions be liberated. However, the US administration has appeared to dismiss this call.
Speaking at a defence summit in Brussels earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 borders.
“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he said.
Hegseth also reiterated Trump’s longstanding opposition to Ukraine becoming a member of Nato, something that Zelensky has been advocating for.
Another factor in the negotiations is what role European and US troops will play in securing peace in Ukraine if conflict ceases.
Starmer will reportedly use the meeting to propose the establishment of a European “reassurance force,” which would involve the deployment of Nato troops to deter further Russian aggression and provide a stabilising presence in the region.
The US administration has stated it will not send troops to support the peace process, with Hesgeth insisting that “any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops”.
Following a call between Zelensky and Starmer on Saturday, a No 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister “repeated that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war” and that he would be pressing this matter during his meeting with Trump.
Relations have been strained between the US and Ukraine after the former held peace talks with Russian officials earlier this month without inviting anyone from Zelensky’s administration. A further round of talks is due to take place on Tuesday, again without Ukraine.
The UK has stopped short of rebuking the US for excluding Ukraine, however, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson telling Sky News on Sunday that the Government welcomes “the approach that President Trump is taking in seeking to get parties to the negotiating table”.
She did, however, insist that Ukraine should be part of negotiations going forward.
Macron led crisis talks in Paris last week amid fears that Trump, who had called Russian President Vladimir Putin just days earlier, was trying to seize control of the peace process.
It is thought that Zelensky is unlikely to accept any peace deal that his country hasn’t had a hand in securing, and the Ukrainian president has appeared to criticise the US for strongarming the process.
Following his call with Starmer, he wrote on social media: “Europe must be at the negotiating table to end the war and ensure strong security guarantees. Ukraine’s security is inseparable from Europe’s security.”
However, Trump has staunchly defended his decision to exclude Ukraine, claiming that Russia “has the cards” in the negotiations.
Speaking to Fox Radio on Saturday, he said: “I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. [Zelensky] has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it.
“He’s been at a meeting for three years, and nothing got done. So, I don’t think it’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He makes it very hard to make deals.”
He added that Zelensky had done a “terrible job” and that the US “better move fast, or he is not going to have a country left”.
Trump was heavily critical of Nato throughout his campaign to become president, frequently claiming that European members were not spending enough on defence.
He has called for European members to boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP — significantly more than any country, including the US, currently spends.
Speaking in early January from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said: “Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we’re in. We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe?”
He emphasised this point on Friday, telling Fox Radio that the UK and France had “done nothing” to end the conflict and that Russia had only entered negotiations “because of me”.
Nato members are required to spend at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence each year as of 2024, but only 23 of the 32 members are expected to achieve that.
Poland is the biggest spender at 4.1 per cent, followed by the US and Estonia tied at 3.4 per cent.
The UK currently spends 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence, but Labour has pledged to increase this to 2.5 per cent when the economy allows. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Reform UK have all backed hitting this number by 2030.
Starmer may use his meeting with Trump to give a more specific timeline on when the UK will reach this goal in a bid to curry favour with the US.
But this could put him in a difficult position at home, as meeting the 2.5 per cent commitment could cost the UK an additional £6bn a year.
There were reports that Starmer had overruled Rachel Reeves on the target, and the Chancellor has already suggested that “difficult decisions” will need to be made regarding the public finances to hit that goal.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on the UK and other trading partners, which has sounded alarm bells across the world.
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, he signed an executive order authorising reciprocal tariffs to “bring fairness back” to global trade.
In regards to Europe, he has taken aim at the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) on goods and has claimed the US is “going to call it a tariff”.
“Whatever they charge us we will charge them,” he said.
Trump added: “I’ve decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff. It’s fair to all. No other country can complain.”
It is not yet clear whether Britain will be specifically singled out by Trump, as the US vowed to address “each country one by one”.
Industry experts have predicted that if Trump does impose a reciprocal tariff on VAT in the UK, it could mean exporters to the US face 21 per cent in additional charges when other duties are taken into account.
Trump has also separately ordered a 25 per cent import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US, which could have major repercussions for UK industries.
No direct tariffs have yet been imposed on the UK, and discussing with Trump how such measures can be avoided will be high on Starmer’s agenda.
The two leaders will also likely discuss wider economic ties between the UK and the US amid calls for talks over a free trade deal to be restarted.
The UK signed several deals with the previous US administration covering green energy, steel tariffs and visa waiver programmes, and these could prove a starting point for further deals.
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