Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday that he does not want to discuss a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine until a formal peace agreement is reached.
Prime Minister Starmer assured that Britain remains committed to working closely with European leaders and is prepared to deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine alongside its allies.
However, President Trump did not provide any security guarantees in this regard. "I don’t like talking about peacekeeping until we have a deal. I prefer to get things done," Trump stated.
Trump indicated that U.S. support for Ukraine would be contingent on a deal allowing the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth resources. This, he suggested, would serve as compensation for the aid provided to Ukraine by the previous Biden administration in its fight against Russia.
During their discussions, Starmer emphasized efforts to secure a peace deal that includes European peacekeeping support for Kyiv. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has outright rejected the idea of any peacekeeping forces being deployed to Ukraine.
Following his meeting with Trump, Starmer stated that achieving peace would be "challenging and fair," emphasizing that Ukraine should play a central role in the process. He also stressed that any peace agreement must prevent Putin from reigniting the war.
The British Prime Minister firmly stated that a deal rewarding the aggressor would not lead to lasting peace. "We agreed that history must stand with the makers of peace, not with the aggressors," he said during a joint press conference with Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump advocated for direct negotiations between the U.S. and Russia without Ukraine’s participation, calling it a "common-sense" approach. "If you want peace, you have to talk to both sides," he remarked.
He suggested that discussions with Russia had been progressing well but warned that the window for a potential agreement was small. Trump added that Putin "stands by his word" and would not invade Ukraine again if a deal is reached.
On the same day, Putin accused Western elites of attempting to disrupt the newly initiated talks between Washington and Moscow.
