Asked behind the scenes at June’s G7 summit if he could explain why Donald Trump seemed to like him so much, Keir Starmer admitted he did not really know. Whatever the reason, when it comes to Ukraine, the UK prime minister is once again hoping to exploit this somewhat curious relationship.
As soon as it was announced that a string of European leaders planned to join Volodymyr Zelenskyy to back the Ukrainian president in crucial talks with Trump at the White House on Monday, it was obvious Starmer would be joining them.
The idea of Britain being some sort of bridge between US and European interests is something of a longstanding UK diplomatic cliche, and not one that always necessarily carries much meaning.
But in the case of Ukraine, Starmer has very deliberately sought to position himself as a leader who can get along with Trump while consistently stressing to him Europe’s red lines over any peace plan, and trying to sweet-talk the president into offering US security guarantees.
Recent months have presented several opportunities for Starmer to make this case in person, including February’s Oval Office meeting between the pair, a bilateral at the G7 in Canada and talks during Trump’s ostensibly non-work visit to Scotland last month.
Starmer has shown his willingness to throw the diplomatic kitchen sink at efforts to keep Trump on side, including in February handing the president a written invitation from the king for an unusual second state visit.
Similarly, the No 10 statement announcing Starmer would join the Zelenskyy meeting had more praise for Trump’s “efforts to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”, even if many UK diplomats would most likely privately view Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska as at best inconclusive, at worst a Russian trap.
Such efforts have yielded results, with Trump repeatedly saying how much he likes Starmer, despite their very obvious political differences.
As with anything Trump-related, even the best-worked plans can be upended by events, most spectacularly the way that Starmer’s ultra-careful Oval Office appearance was followed a day later by Zelenskyy being humiliated by Trump and JD Vance.
More recently, Starmer’s delicate handling of Trump at the G7 – which in its most visible form saw the PM bend down to collect papers spilled by the president – did not prevent Trump leaving the summit early and then reneging on a plan to call for restraint in tensions between Israel and Iran.
Monday’s White House event could go south at similar speed, especially given reports that Trump seems minded to take up Putin’s suggestion on Ukrainian territorial concessions in exchange for peace, something Zelenskyy and other European leaders have consistently ruled out.
There is an extent to which this does not matter. Any sort of Trump diplomacy is always in part an exercise in luck. And as Starmer knows, when dealing with Ukraine, even if it does not work, it has to be attempted.
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Support for Kyiv is one of the few remaining cross-party, even national, political consensuses, as shown by Starmer and Zelenskyy’s hug outside Downing Street on Thursday, ahead of the Alaska summit.
While Trump is publicly fussed over by No 10, Zelenskyy seems genuinely cherished, as shown by diplomatic symbols such as the Ukrainian leader’s post-White House debacle meeting with King Charles at the much more intimate surrounding of the royals’ Sandringham estate in Norfolk, while Trump will be hosted in September in the formality of Windsor Castle.
Starmer’s disinclination to publicly criticise Trump, a leader disliked by many British voters, can seem anomalous, even jarring. But No 10 can point to results, notably the UK’s relatively light treatment under the new regime of US tariffs.
Pulling Trump out of Putin’s orbit when it comes to peace in Ukraine could be a bigger ask. But yet again, Starmer will try.