Sir Keir returned to the UK on Friday 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.
The US president has continued 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”.
The Downing Street spokesman welcomed the deal, telling reporters that “anything that binds the US more closely to the future of Ukraine and delivers a durable peace is a good step and clearly […] a deal has to be in place before we move to next steps but Britain is ready to play its part.”.
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.
But that peace deal has to come first and as you know the Prime Minister will meet President Zelensky before convening European leaders in London on Sunday to continue those discussions.
