President Donald Trump will be the host of the United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the White House on Thursday.
The two leaders held a bilateral meeting at the Oval office and are scheduled to hold a press conference in the East Room.
The senior administration officials told journalists that much of the conversations between Trump and Starmer will focus on a peaceful resolution for the Russia-Ukraine War.
The meeting occurs after Europe was out of conversations between the United States and Russia on how to end the brutal invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which recently extended in his fourth year.
Since then, Trump has said that Europe will have to assume the main responsibility of any security guarantee for Ukraine, since nations such as France and the United Kingdom urge the United States to support peace maintenance efforts after the conflict.
“Well, I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond much,” Trump said at his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “We are going to make Europe do that because it is inside, you know, we are talking about Europe is the neighbor next door, but we will make sure everything goes well.”
President Donald Trump greets the British prime minister Keir Starmer at the entrance of the west wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Images
Trump also implied that the mineral resources agreement between the United States and Ukraine would be “automatic security”, because the United States will invest in the nation and that would serve as a barrier to Russia.
Starmer has said that he will ensure that the United Kingdom is a “leading country” in European nations that take a step forward to support Ukraine, but said there must be a “top” of the United States to deter Putin.
“I do not think it is a guarantee if there is no support from the United States behind those security guarantees,” Starmer said after European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris last week when Trump’s officials met with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a welcome reception at the residence of the Great Ambassador of Britain on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Carl Court/Pool Photo through AP
Administration officials said the United States has been in constant contact with European partners and providing updates on negotiations regarding an agreement to end the war.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is expected to travel to Washington, DC, Friday.
Ukraine is working to win an American security agreement as part of the proposed mineral agreement, Zelenskyy told journalists in kyiv on Wednesday.
The senior officials of the Trump administration, who took questions from journalists about the United Kingdom’s request from the US support for European peace efforts and if the United States is prepared to provide air defense systems for security guarantee.
An official referred to Trump’s comments at the cabinet meeting, saying that the main objective is to create a lasting peace and reiterated past statements that “the economic association with the Ukrainians does not include any specific guarantee of funds for the future war struggle, nor does it compromise any US personnel in the region.”
Another official argued that many countries have concerns about putting boots on the field in Ukraine.
“I would say that there is a balance between the size of the necessary force and the strength of diplomacy that supports him that he assures it,” said an official.
“If that level of conflict, as we want, the functional fire is reduced to a high, they would have less concerns … so the type of force depends a lot on the political self -esteem that is done to end the war,” the official continued. “And I think that compensation is what today’s leaders, part of what leaders are going to discuss today.”
