{"id":18241,"date":"2025-02-26T23:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T23:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=18241"},"modified":"2025-02-26T23:12:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T23:12:29","slug":"starmer-to-warn-trump-that-peace-in-ukraine-needs-us-military-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=18241","title":{"rendered":"Starmer to warn Trump that peace in Ukraine needs US military cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sir Keir Starmer will warn President Donald Trump on Thursday that peace in Ukraine cannot be secured unless the US provides military cover for any European stabilisation force, in a high-stakes White House meeting.<\/p>\n

The push by the British prime minister comes despite Trump telling his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday: \u201cI\u2019m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump added that: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have Europe do that\u201d, because \u201cEurope is the next-door neighbour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer will tell Trump in Washington that while Britain will play a key role in boosting Europe\u2019s military capabilities, a US \u201cbackstop\u201d was vital. \u201cI don\u2019t think there will be a deterrent to Putin if we don\u2019t have one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The meeting at the White House is part of a flurry of international diplomacy this week as European leaders begin trying to construct a new foundation for the continent\u2019s security under pressure from Trump.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet Trump in Washington on Friday to sign a deal on critical minerals. <\/p>\n

Starmer will then host European leaders on Sunday in the UK, including Zelenskyy, to thrash out how the continent can \u201cstep up\u201d to its defence responsibilities, including talks about a European rearmament fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cI accept that European allies, the UK included, must do more and that means on capability, co-ordination and spend,\u201d Starmer said.<\/p>\n

British officials said the overriding aim of Starmer\u2019s talks with Trump, which followed a visit to Washington by France\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the week, is to convince the US president to remain engaged in European security.<\/p>\n

Trump and his aides have increasingly sided with Russia when describing the conflict in recent weeks. Some Western officials say this is a negotiating tactic aimed at bringing Moscow to the table.<\/p>\n

After blindsiding European capitals with the launch of bilateral talks with Russia, Trump has in recent days blamed Zelenskyy for Vladimir Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022 and has called the Ukrainian leader a \u201cdictator\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US also stunned and alarmed western allies at the UN<\/a> earlier this week when it joined Russia and broke with European partners to pass a resolution at the security council that called for a swift end to the fighting but did not blame Russian aggression.<\/p>\n

Still, European officials hope that the US will, as part of a Ukraine-Russia peace deal, provide support to European peacekeepers such as heavy lift capabilities, air defence and long-range missiles \u2014 hardware that can sit outside Ukraine but could be moved there quickly. <\/p>\n

The UK and France have offered to put troops inside Ukraine to act as a deterrent to further Russian aggression, and want Trump to agree to provide a US backstop.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern is if there is a ceasefire without a backstop. It will simply give Putin the opportunity to wait and to come again,\u201d Starmer told reporters while en route to Washington. \u201cHis ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious, I think, for all to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will play our part and I\u2019ve been clear that we will need a US backstop of some sort.\u201d <\/p>\n

Starmer announced a \u00a36bn annual increase in UK defence spending by 2027 this week, funded by aid cuts. He added that his decision to offer British troops for a post-truce force in Ukraine was \u201cnot taken lightly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s commitment to increasing defence spending is part of an effort by the UK premier to woo President Trump at a crucial moment for the west.<\/p>\n

The US president is expected to be offered a state visit to Britain \u2014 \u201che\u2019s very fond of the Royal Family, as you know\u201d, Starmer said \u2014 and the UK prime minister is repeatedly deploying Winston Churchill\u2019s claim that the UK has a \u201cspecial relationship\u201d with the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want to achieve is the going from strength-to-strength of the special relationship, particularly in a volatile world,\u201d he said. Asked whether he trusted Trump, Starmer insisted: \u201cYes, I\u2019ve got a good relationship with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer said: \u201cWhen it comes to defence and security, we have for decades acted as a bridge because of the special relationship we have with the US and also our allegiance to our European allies.\u201d He added: \u201cThat\u2019s been there before Brexit. It survives Brexit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship nevertheless is more fraught than at any time since the end of the cold war, with Starmer trying to stave off the threat of US tariffs as well as seeking to nudge Trump away from his pro-Russian rhetoric.<\/p>\n

Trump has yet to sign off a deal agreed by Starmer to hand British sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as part of an agreement to secure the long-term future of the US-UK military base at Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n

David Lammy, UK foreign secretary, confirmed that the US had a veto. \u201cIf President Trump doesn\u2019t like the deal, the deal will not go forward,\u201d he told ITV\u2019s Peston programme.<\/p>\n

Starmer and Trump will have lunch on Thursday at the White House before holding a joint press conference \u2014 an event which British officials are viewing with some trepidation, given the US president\u2019s freewheeling style.<\/p>\n