WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump hosted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Feb. 27 to discuss the ongoing efforts to end the Russia–Ukraine war. Both leaders also discussed reviving bilateral trade agreement talks, which had stalled in 2021 during the Biden administration.
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled to visit the White House on Feb. 28, Trump and Starmer’s conversation centered around what role the nations will play during the peace negotiations and in the aftermath of a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
“I think we’ll have a deal on ending the war, and I think we’re going to end up with a great trade deal,” Trump said in concluding remarks at the press conference.
During his meeting with Starmer, Trump confirmed that he would be signing an agreement with Ukraine on Feb. 28 that would allow the United States access to the Eastern European country’s rare earth minerals.
“By our being in Ukraine and doing the exploration, the digging, and the taking of the rare earth, which we need in our country very badly, we’ll be doing a substantial amount of work,” Trump said at the press conference. “It’s like a huge economic development project, so it will be good for both countries.”
While the deal could provide a financial boost to Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion, Trump has indicated that despite Kiev’s requests, there would be no security guarantees.
Trump also said that Ukraine would not be granted NATO membership when negotiating the terms of a peace agreement with Russia. However, he said that the United States and European Union would “certainly try and get” back as much as possible of the land captured by Russia.
The UK and other European nations have urged the United States to act as a security backstop for any agreement to encourage Russia to honor the terms of a potential peace deal.
Trump said the United States would provide backstop security solely to protect American interests in Ukraine.
“So I don’t know when you say backstop … psychologically or militarily or what?” he responded when asked about the issue.
“We are a backstop because we'll be over there.”
Trump was referring to the rare earths deal.
On Feb. 18, U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to explore cease-fire terms. Ukraine was not at the negotiating table.
Starmer’s arrival was the latest in a series of world leaders visiting the White House since Trump took office. It follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit on Feb. 24 to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Like Macron, the UK prime minister’s focus was on convincing Trump not to rush to a cease-fire deal with Moscow and to push for a lasting peace agreement.
“If there’s a deal in, we’ve got to make sure it’s a deal that lasts, that is not temporary,” Starmer said at the press conference, expressing concerns about Russia potentially violating the agreement.
“And that’s why we need to make sure that it’s secure.”
He highlighted the value of a strong security presence in helping prevent transgressions.
Trump expressed confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not violate a potential deal.
"I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word,” Trump said. “When we make a deal, I think the deal is going to hold. I don’t think there’s going to be any problem with keeping the deal.”
He also said he would prefer not to talk about peacekeeping until there’s a peace deal.
“The difficult part is getting the deal done,” Trump noted, saying progress is expected in the coming days.
“The next step we’re making is toward a very achievable cease-fire,” he said. “This will lay the groundwork for a long-term peace agreement.”
Before his visit, Starmer announced that he would boost his country’s military spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027. He also said the UK will keep increasing defense spending, with the goal of reaching 3 percent of GDP within the next decade.
Trump has repeatedly urged NATO allies to increase their spending further toward 5 percent to address years of underfunding in the defense capabilities of NATO.
During a call, a senior White House official said the economic partnership with Ukraine would be finalized during the Trump–Zelenskyy meeting at the White House.
“The economic partnership with the Ukrainians does not include any specific guarantee of funding for future warfighting, nor does it commit any U.S. personnel in the region,” the official said.
With regards to the U.S.–UK trade agreement talks, Trump said progress had been made during the meeting.
“We’re going to have a great trade agreement one way or the other,” he said before ending the press conference. “We’re going to end up with a very good trade agreement for both countries, and we’re working on that as we speak.”
