British Prime Minister Keir Starmer presided over yet another attempt to steer U.S. President Donald Trump away from dealing with Russia over large-scale strategic and security matters. There was no indication that any traction was obtained.
London’s No. 10 Downing Street issued a statement yesterday, reporting: “The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz today.
“The leaders discussed the latest on the ongoing U.S.-led peace talks, welcoming their efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, and to see an end to the killing. Intensive work on the peace plan is continuing and will continue in the coming days. They agreed that this was a critical moment—for Ukraine, its people and for shared security across the Euro-Atlantic region.”
The day before, Trump had lambasted European leaders as “weak” and as overseeing a “decaying” continent. He had also issued a new deadline for Ukraine’s acting president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to sign the U.S. deal. Yet Starmer reportedly brought up, yet again, that the next step was a ceasefire. According to Macron, the participants in the conversation “tried to make progress” in the Ukrainian settlement, but he did not give other details.