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Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his call for a US security guarantee in Ukraine to deter Vladimir Putin from invading again, as he prepares to meet Donald Trump. Speaking on the plane to Washington DC, Sir Keir said he hopes the UK-US relationship could go from “strength to strength”. But the two leaders appear to be at odds over the importance of US security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace deal there. Sir Keir said discussions about potentially sending British troops to Ukraine were ongoing but he re-emphasised his belief in the importance of a so-called US “backstop”.
Asked what form he believed this backstop should take, he said: “Exactly what the configuration of that is, exactly what the backstop is, is obviously the subject of intense discussion but I’m not going to get ahead of myself on it, other than to say I’m very clear about what the principles are.”
In contrast, Trump has said: “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that, because we’re talking about Europe as the next-door neighbour.”
The president did add that the expected deal between Washington and Kyiv over access to Ukrainian minerals was “great” for Ukraine “because they get us over there.” We will be on the land and that way there is going to be automatic security because nobody is going to be messing around with our people.
It is not yet known how much security support European leaders are asking for from America, nor is the scale of any American manpower on the ground in Ukraine associated with a minerals deal. The prime minister said: “I’m considering how we preserve peace in Europe and how we get a lasting peace in Ukraine. And I’m absolutely convinced that we need a lasting peace, not a ceasefire, and for that to happen we need security guarantees. Precisely what that layers up to, what that looks like, is obviously a subject of intense discussion. We will play our part and I’ve been clear that we will need a US backstop of some sort.
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