Sir Keir Starmer will welcome Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street this weekend as he follows up his visit to see Donald Trump with efforts to bridge the gap between the US and Europe over a potential deal to end the Ukraine war. Leaders from across Europe will gather in London on Sunday, following a week which will have seen Sir Keir, France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Ukrainian president travel for talks with Mr Trump.
The US President continues to resist calls to fully commit American military might to guarantee any Ukraine peace deal, but he has suggested closer economic ties and an agreement on mineral access between Kyiv and Washington would effectively act as a security “backstop”.
Sir Keir returned to the UK following a trip to the White House which went as well as No 10 could have hoped, with Mr Trump clearly pleased with the King’s invitation for an unprecedented second state visit, giving an indication that he would not block the Chagos Islands deal and suggesting a trade deal could spare British exports from US tariffs.
Sunday’s intensive diplomatic activity will see Mr Zelensky and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni separately visit No 10, the Prime Minister chair a call with the Baltic countries – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – before hosting the summit of European leaders.
Mr Zelensky, Mr Macron and Ms Meloni have been invited to the summit along with leaders from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as the Nato secretary general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.
They will discuss the next steps in planning for security guarantees if a Ukraine peace deal is reached – something Sir Keir believes will have to involve the US. The leaders will consider how to strengthen Ukraine’s current position, with military support and increased economic pressure on Russia.
The UK wants US military assets to provide surveillance, intelligence and – potentially – warplanes providing air cover to deter Vladimir Putin from launching another bid to conquer his neighbour. In Washington on Thursday Mr Trump said: “Well, there is a backstop. First, you have European countries, because they’re right there, we’re very far away, we have an ocean between us.
“But we want to make sure it works.”. He continued: “We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country. ”. The President and the Prime Minister agreed to begin work on a new US-UK economic deal after the Prime Minister dangled the carrot of an unprecedented second state visit to woo the US president.
Sir Keir said the two leaders had decided “to begin work on a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core”. The president, who is set to impose a 25% import tax on UK steel in March, said: “We could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary”.
It is understood the proposed agreement is likely to focus on technology, rather than being an all-encompassing free trade deal. The Prime Minister presented Mr Trump with a golf cap in his family tartan, Downing Street golf balls and Downing Street crystal glasses.
First Lady Melania Trump was given a Liberty scarf, a No 10 candle and a book on the Prime Minister’s Chequers country retreat. Mr Trump gave the Prime Minister a US soccer shirt with Starmer and the number 10 on the back. The leaders and their teams held their White House discussions over a lunch of winter green salad and sea bass.
