Trump
says Putin would keep his word on a Ukraine peace deal
President
claims presence of US workers in Ukraine would deter Russian aggression after
talks with Keir Starmer
Pippa Crerar
Political editor
Thu 27 Feb
2025 23.42 CET
Donald Trump
has insisted that Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a peace deal for
Ukraine, arguing that US workers extracting critical minerals in the country
would act as a security backstop to deter Russia from invading again.
During
highly anticipated talks at the White House with the prime minister, Keir
Starmer, the US president said that Putin could be trusted not to breach any
agreement, which could aim to return as much of the land as possible to Ukraine
that was seized by Russia during the brutal three-year conflict.
But, sitting
alongside Starmer in the Oval Office taking questions from journalists, Trump
refused to commit to deploying US forces to support a European-led peacekeeping
force, although he said the US would “always” help the British military in the
unlikely event it needed it.
He later
indicated the US would make “great trade agreements” with the UK that could
progress “very quickly”, adding that Starmer had tried to persuade him against
imposing tariffs, saying: “He earned whatever the hell they pay him over
there.”
The US
president also appeared to make a significant concession on the Chagos Islands,
saying that he was “inclined” to back the deal struck by Starmer, who at the
talks delivered a letter from King Charles offering Trump an unprecedented
second state visit.
The
relationship between the two men appeared convivial for much of the meeting,
and Trump praised Starmer as “an outstanding person” and “a very special
person”.
The talks
came at the most precarious moment for European security in decades, as the new
US administration aligns with Russia, breaking a years-long transatlantic
consensus on Ukraine.
The prime
minister used the meeting, just 24 hours before Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr
Zelenskyy, travels to Washington to sign a critical minerals deal, to push the
president on providing security protections for Kyiv in the event of a peace
deal being secured to deter Russia from launching another attack.
After their
bilateral meeting, Starmer said: “We’ve discussed a plan today to reach a peace
that is tough and fair. That Ukraine will help shape. That’s backed by strength
to stop Putin coming back for more.
“I’m working
closely with other European leaders on this and I’m clear that the UK is ready
to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal. Working
together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last.”
Starmer
stressed that any deal had to be one that lasted, and that was why security
guarantees were so crucial. But Trump suggested that keeping the peace would be
“the easy part” and the difficult bit was getting the deal done.
Trump
stopped short of providing a firm commitment on security guarantees, but
instead suggested the US having a multibillion dollar stake in Ukraine’s rare
earths sector would be enough of a deterrent for Russia.
“We’ll be
working there. We’ll have a lot of people working and so, in that sense, it’s
very good. It’s a backstop, you could say. I don’t think anybody’s going to
play around if we’re there with a lot of workers and having to do with rare
earths and other things which we need for our country.”
Asked
whether returning territory seized by Russia could play a part in any peace
deal for Ukraine, Trump added: “We will certainly try and get as much as we can
back.”
The US
president appeared to disagree with Starmer’s suggestion that, without a US
military backstop, Putin would invade again. “I don’t think so. I think when we
have a deal, it’s going to be the deal,” he said.
“I think
he’ll keep his word. I’ve known him for a long time now, and I think he will. I
don’t believe he’s going to violate his word. I don’t think he’ll be back when
we make a deal. I think the deal is going to hold now.”
However,
Trump reiterated his support for the Nato principle of collective defence,
saying: “I support it. I don’t think we’re gonna have any reason for it. I
think we’re going to have a very successful peace.”
He said that
the British had an “incredible military” that “don’t need much help” and could
“take care of themselves” very well but added that if UK peacekeeping forces
came under attack “if they need help, I’ll always be with the British”.
Trump also
distanced himself from his previous remarks falsely calling Zelenskyy a
dictator. “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” he said, before
admitting that the relationship between the two men had got a “little testy”
over financial support but was now on firmer ground.
In a further
sign of a healing relationship between the two, Trump praised Zelenskyy as
“very brave” and said he got along with him “really well”.
He added:
“We’ve given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought
very bravely, no matter how you figure, they have really fought. Somebody has
to use that equipment and they have been very brave in that sense.”
A trade deal
between the UK and the US, centring on technology, is also on the cards,
although British officials suggested this might require further deregulation.
Trump did not rule out imposing tariffs on the UK but said he had a “warm spot”
for the country, which was in a very different place” from the EU, highlighting
his own investments in Scotland.
He added
that Starmer had tried to persuade him not to introduce tariffs as the two
countries had a balanced trading relationship. “We have a very good chance of
arriving at a trade deal that could be really terrific for both countries.”
In the only
slightly terse exchange of the Oval Office session, Starmer pushed back against
JD Vance, Trump’s vice-president, after Vance repeated some of his criticisms
of a supposed lack of free speech in European countries.
Asked about
this, Vance talked of “infringements on free speech that actually affect not
just the British – of course what the British do in their own country is up to
them – but also affect American technology companies and, by extension,
American citizens, so that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch.”
Starmer
replied immediately: “Well, we’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in
the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time. Certainly, we
wouldn’t want to reach across US citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely
right, but in relation to free speech in the UK I’m very proud of our history
there.”
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