British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Donald Trump on Thursday to plead for a US backstop to any Ukraine ceasefire, insisting it would be the only way to stop Russia’s Vladimir Putin from invading again.
Starmer arrived in Washington late Wednesday to build on a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Putin.
London and Paris are spearheading proposals to send a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine if Trump’s shock decision to pursue talks with Russia’s president brings a deal to end the war.
But they are calling for US security guarantees in return, amid spiraling concerns in Europe that Trump is taking Russia’s side and will sever the decades-old transatlantic alliance.
“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.”বিস্তারিত