Trump meets Starmer over Ukraine peace

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House on Thursday for their first in-person talks since the Republican leader upended US policy on Ukraine, the Middle East and global trade.

Trump took a softer tone on Ukraine truce talks on Thursday, but refused to give any firm commitments on the US security guarantees Europe desperately wants.

In an upbeat meeting, Trump, who has alarmed European capitals with his sudden pivot toward Russia, said there had been "a lot of progress" toward a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine and that negotiations were at a crucial stage.

"It'll either be fairly soon, or it won't be at all," Trump told a joint news conference with Starmer.

The US president played down an earlier rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which had compounded fears that Trump would cut Ukraine out from negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Trump said of Zelensky.

Earlier at the Oval Office he also walked back his jibe that the Ukrainian president was a "dictator", saying: "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that."

But on the US security "backstop" that Britain and France want in exchange for deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a deal with Russia to end the conflict, Trump remained noncommittal.

The US president said he was "open to many things" in terms of security guarantees, but he wanted to get a Russia-Ukraine deal in place first.

It made Starmer the second leader in the space of a week to leave Washington empty-handed on Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron also tried to persuade Trump on Monday.

"We have to win the peace," Starmer said at the joint news conference."It can't be peace that rewards the aggressor."

The British prime minister tried to show that he was willing to step up in Ukraine, with Trump repeatedly urging European nations to contribute more to their continent's defense.

"I'm clear that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal," Starmer said.

In an interview later with Fox News, Starmer praised Trump for spearheading moves toward a truce but said: "We need to defend it."

Also on Ukraine and security, Starmer has invited more than a dozen European leaders to a Sunday summit to "drive forward" action, his office said.

Ahead of the summit, Starmer will chair a morning call with Baltic nations, before welcoming Zelensky to Downing Street to discuss the fighting with Russia, it said on Friday.

Zelensky, meanwhile, was set to meet with Trump and sign a critical minerals deal on Friday.

Istanbul negotiations

Meanwhile, in Istanbul, Russian and US teams held six hours of talks on Thursday to try to restore normal functioning of their embassies, and Putin said initial contacts with Trump's new administration had inspired hope.

The talks focused narrowly on conditions for each other's diplomats, and provided an early test of the two countries' ability to reset wider relations.

Russian state news agency TASS said Thursday's talks, held at the gated residence of the US consul general in Istanbul, wrapped up after some six hours without any statements to the press.

Putin this week tempered expectations of a quick deal, saying trust between Russia and the United States had to be rebuilt before anything could be achieved.

But in televised comments to members of the Federal Security Service on Thursday, he said: "I note that the first contacts with the new American administration inspire certain hopes."

"There is a reciprocal mood to work to restore intergovernmental ties and to gradually resolve the huge number of systemic and strategic problems that have built up in the world's security architecture."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Istanbul talks were expected to be the first in a series of contacts aimed at building confidence and removing "irritants" in bilateral relations.

Agencies Via Xinhua