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LAST UPDATE | 27 Feb 2025
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has met Donald Trump at the White House, in which he pleaded with the US president that any truce in Ukraine “can’t be a peace that rewards the aggressor”.
Trump greeted Starmer with a warm handshake as the White House and said that “we can” reach a peace deal on Ukraine, when asked by reporters.
He also said that the US is working on a trade deal with the UK, one day after Trump declared sweeping 25% taxes on EU imports.
Starmer praised Trump for his “personal commitment to bring peace” in Ukraine and said the UK is “ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal”.
He also called for a US “backstop” to any ceasefire in the war, insisting it would be the only way to deter Russia’s Vladimir Putin from invading again.
The meeting comes a day before Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Trump to try and finalise a peace deal.
Ahead of the Oval Office meeting, it was understood Starmer would push Trump for US aerial surveillance and even air power to support peacekeepers that Britain and France are offering to deploy if the conflict ends.
But Trump has been wary of committing American resources, adding to concerns in Europe that the US president will abandon Kyiv and take Russia’s side in negotiations.
The situation remains uncertain, with Trump telling reporters that British soldiers are “incredible” and “can take care of themselves” if they come under attack by Russia while keeping the peace in Ukraine.
However, Trump next said: “But if they need help, I’ll always be with the British, OK? I’ll always be with them – but they don’t need help.”
Trump also said he would support Nato Treaty obligations, namely that members must support a fellow member if it is attacked.
“I support it,” Trump said, adding, “and I don’t think we will have any reason to use it.”
Starmer urged a peace deal for Ukraine, heaping praise on Trump a day ahead of his meeting with the Ukraine president.
“We’re focused now on bringing an enduring end to the barbaric war in Ukraine,” Starmer said.
“Mr President, I welcome your deep and personal commitment to bring peace and to stop the killing. 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. That is the prize. But we have to get it right … it can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran.
“We agree history must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader.”
Earlier, the US leader said that a peace deal needs to be struck soon between Ukraine and Russia or it may not happen “at all.”
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress and I think it’s moving along pretty rapidly,” Trump said. “It’ll either be fairly soon or it won’t be at all.”
Meanwhile, Trump has been invited for an “unprecedented” second state visit by King Charles, Starmer said.
Trump said he would be visiting the UK in “near future” as he met Starmer at the White House.
Starmer’s visit comes days after a similar visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who came away effectively empty handed despite saying there had been a “turning point” with Trump.
“The security guarantee has to be sufficient to deter Putin,” Starmer told reporters on the plane to Washington.
“If there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give him the opportunity to wait and to come again, because his ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious.”
British officials said European countries would be reluctant to commit forces unless Washington had their backs.
Starmer corrected Trump when the US president claimed Europe – and not the US – was getting back some of the cash it has provided to Ukraine during the war.
Trump said he had a “very good relationship” with the Ukrainian leader, adding: “It maybe got a little bit testy because we wanted to have a little bit of what the European nations had.
“You know, they get their money back by giving money, we don’t get the money back. Biden made a deal. He put in 350 billion dollars and I thought it was a very unfair situation.”
Starmer intervened to say: “We’re not getting all of ours. I mean, quite a bit of ours was gifted. It was given. There were some loans, but mainly it was gifted actually.”
French President Emmanuel Macron corrected Trump on the same point during his visit to Washington earlier this week.
The earlier meeting also saw Starmer respond to US Vice-President JD Vance’s remarks at the Munich security conference, in which he claimed there free speech violations in the UK and Europe.
Asked about his remarks, Trump pointed at Vance, who said maintained there were “infringements on free speech” that impact American companies – a likely reference to potential restrictions on social media companies whose owners have swung in behind the Trump administration in recent months.
“Look, I said what I said,” Vance told the first press conference, adding that there is a “special relationship with our friends in the UK, and also some of our European allies”.
Vance added: “But we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British – of course what the British do in their own country is up to them – but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens, so that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch.”
Starmer responded that the UK has had “free speech for a very, very long time” and it will “last for a very, very long time”.
“Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across US citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right, but in relation to free speech in the UK I’m very proud of our history there,” the British Labour leader added.
Want to know more about what’s happening in Ukraine and why? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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