The two leaders will share a lunch before crucial discussions on the future of Ukraine – with Sir Keir Starmer saying only a US ‘backstop’ can secure lasting peace in the war-torn region
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer will share a lunch before crucial discussions on the future of Ukraine begin – with the war-torn region top of the agenda during today’s meeting.
The pair will enjoy a winter green salad to start, followed by grilled seabass and a chocolate caramel cake for dessert. Trump welcomed Starmer in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting earlier today, and was handed an ‘unprecedented’ letter from King Charles, who invited him to the UK for a second state visit.
Starmer has met with Trump to plead for a US backstop to any Ukraine ceasefire, urging him it would be the only way to put an end Russia’s invasion. He arrived in Washington late Wednesday after a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Putin.
The US President said the pair are going to be discussing the Russia-Ukraine war, trade, and “lots of other items”. He added: “And I think we can say we are going to be getting along on every one of them.”
Trump: “We’ve had a tremendous relationship and, frankly, the prime minister and I have met twice before, and we get along very famously, as you would say, and I look forward to it very much. We look forward to the day and the meeting, and we’ll be having a luncheon after this, and then another work session, and I believe we’re going to have a press conference at the end – so I look forward to it and, Mr Prime Minister, thank you very much.”
On Wednesday, Starmer brushed off tensions between the White House and Europe over Ukraine, saying he trusted Trump and wanted the UK’s “special relationship” with the US to go “from strength to strength”. Ahead of his meeting, he told reporters the UK was working “in lockstep” with the US President on the issue of Russia and Ukraine.
Asked if he could trust Trump, the PM replied: “Yes. I’ve got a good relationship with him. As you know, I’ve met him, I’ve spoken to him on the phone, and this relationship between our two countries is a special relationship with a long history, forged as we fought wars together, as we traded together. And as I say, I want it to go from strength to strength.”
