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.
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 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.
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.
