Starmer to Urge Europe to Face New Reality After Zelenskiy Talks

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(Bloomberg) — Keir Starmer will tell European leaders that they need to face the “brutal reality” and increase defense spending, as the British prime minister sought to use his line into the White House to keep the trans-Atlantic alliance from breaking apart over Ukraine.

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The British premier will deliver the message to representatives from more than a dozen other long-time American allies on Sunday during a European security summit in London, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The event was made all the more urgent by US President Donald Trump’s spectacular falling out with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Starmer spent Saturday attempting to find a way forward for Zelenskiy, whom European officials say is under pressure from the US to apologize for questioning the value of a cease-fire with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Those efforts were symbolized by Starmer’s warm embrace of the Ukrainian leader outside 10 Downing Street’s iconic black door, barely 24 hours after he was sent away from the White House without an expected mineral deal. 

While Zelenskiy was scheduled to be in London for the security summit before his blow-up with Trump, the visit gave Starmer a last-ditch chance to salvage weeks of careful diplomacy to gain a seat in talks to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He hosted Zelenskiy in a pair of arm chairs in front of a fireplace, in a more cordial parallel to the tense encounter in Washington. 

“You have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it may take,” Starmer said. Zelenskiy replied: “I want to thank you, people of the United Kingdom. Such big support from the very beginning of this war.”

In a post on X, Zelenskiy described the meeting as “meaningful and warm.”

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Starmer called Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron after the meeting, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who described the conversations as constructive. 

While many European leaders expressed shock at Trump’s moral equivalence between Russia and Ukraine and reaffirmed support for Kyiv, some have urged Zelenskiy to try to repair ties with his biggest single military backer. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the BBC that he had said “we really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine” in calls with Zelenskiy.

The Trump administration has privately made clear it wants a public apology from Zelenskiy to mend relations, one European official said.

The London summit, which follows a similar event two weeks ago in Paris, is part of a bid to bolster the defenses of Ukraine and Europe more broadly if Trump cuts a deal with Putin and pulls back support for Kyiv. Attendees will include Macron, Zelenskiy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in addition to delegations from Canada, Germany and Turkey.  

The London summit follows a week of diplomatic highs and lows for Ukraine’s supporters, including Starmer’s own, far more upbeat visit to the White House on Thursday. After Zelenskiy’s falling out with Trump, Starmer sought to use that new-found political capital by calling both presidents and trying to convince them to get back to the table. 

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The effort showed the extent to which Starmer is eager to use his unique links between the Trump’s administration and European leaders. British officials believe they can make use of Trump’s oft-stated preference for Britain over the European Union to keep things from falling apart.  

Sunday’s summit at Lancaster House in London has become even more urgent in light of the breakdown in transatlantic relations. Starmer’s has sought to reassert leadership in Europe post-Brexit by pledging to increase the defense budget to 2.5% of economic output, up from 2.3% currently.

Starmer will tell other leaders they need to get real about defense spending, a UK official said. They must realize that “carefully crafted speeches” backing Ukraine won’t be enough to persuade Trump to agree to the security guarantees they want, the official said. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is planning to announce a new £2 billion ($2.5 billion) loan for Ukraine funded with the proceeds from frozen Russian assets, according to a person familiar with the matter. She also plans to expand the remit of the £27.8 billion National Wealth Fund to support Britain’s defense sector, the person said.  

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Starmer, Macron and others are hoping to spur a greater security commitment to gain a seat at the negotiating table. Now they must overcome concerns that Trump has already given up on the Ukrainian cause, and with it Europe. 

“It’s going to be a damage-limitation exercise,” former UK national security adviser Peter Ricketts told BBC Radio. “What the Europeans achieved in the last few days — Macron, Starmer — was to get the Europeans into the conversation and to get Trump to see that Europe had a useful contribution to make. Well, now we’re rather back to square one on that, and the risk is Trump will default back to a direct line to Putin.”

Starmer’s position is bolstered by widespread support for Ukraine and suspicion about Russia in the UK. King Charles III, whose state visit invite to Trump helped smooth over Starmer’s trip to the White House this week, also agreed to meet the Ukrainian president on Sunday.  

Starmer and Macron, who had his own warm visit to the Oval Office on Monday, are seeking an American “backstop” to deter Russia from attacking a proposed British-French peacekeeping force to support any cease-fire in Ukraine. Trump has withheld support, saying it was premature to discuss peacekeeping. 

The British premier did secure some diplomatic wins on his trip, including a row-back from Trump on parts of his language about the Ukrainian leader being a “dictator” — “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump said as he addressed reporters alongside the British premier on Thursday.

That diplomatic success has been undone, yet a Downing Street official says the mood remained determined, insisting Starmer’s team won’t give up.

—With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska and Julian Harris.

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