{"id":420045,"date":"2025-02-28T14:02:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T13:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2025\/02\/28\/starmer-trump-incontro-truppe-usa-ucraina\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T15:12:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:12:24","slug":"starmer-fails-to-convince-trump-to-commit-troops-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/02\/28\/starmer-fails-to-convince-trump-to-commit-troops-to-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer fails to convince Trump to commit troops to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – A lot is going on these days at the court of Donald Trump<\/strong>. After Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>, Keir Starmer<\/strong> paid his respects yesterday, and this afternoon, it will be the turn of Volodymyr Zelensky<\/strong>. But “King Donald” does not seem too impressed<\/strong>\u00a0by the demands of those who are supposed to be his closest allies. Thus, even the British PM’s pilgrimage did not produce concrete results, at least on the hottest of the dossiers crowding the Oval Office desk: the conflict in Ukraine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As befits a vassal visiting his\u00a0lord, the occupant of Downing Street went to\u00a0the White House, ensuring he did not show up empty-handed. Among his\u00a0gifts, the British prime minister first brought, first and foremost,\u00a0a personal invitation from His Majesty King Charles III<\/strong> to Trump for a second state visit to the UK (after Queen Elizabeth II’s in 2019), an “unprecedented” event.<\/p>\n

Demonstrating London’s good faith and its government’s commitment to the security issue, Starmer then put on the table the recent decision<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0lift the defense budget<\/strong> from the current 2.3 to 2.5 percent of GDP<\/strong>, bringing forward to 2027 the target initially set for 2030.\u00a0 It should have been music to the ears of the president, who, since his first term, has not tired of repeating that Europeans must take responsibility for security on the Old Continent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The bond between the UK and the US couldn\u2019t be stronger.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your hospitality, @POTUS<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/tcAtp2hzCY<\/a><\/p>\n

– Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chancelleries on this side of the Atlantic<\/strong> are\u00a0taking that\u00a0warning more and more seriously<\/strong>, as evidenced by the hectic summits in recent weeks — after the two meetings in Paris, a third summit is scheduled<\/a> for the day after tomorrow (March 2) in London, dedicated\u00a0to the topic of continental defense. Some, like German Chancellor-in-waiting\u00a0Friedrich Merz<\/strong>,\u00a0even\u00a0imagine<\/a> a potential\u00a0European military alliance<\/strong> that could exist independently of NATO.<\/p>\n

It is probably a pipe dream, at least in the immediate future. However,\u00a0such leaps forward (especially\u00a0from a staunch\u00a0Atlanticist like the leader of the CDU) highlight\u00a0the\u00a0panic gripping Europe<\/strong> as the new US administration swiftly proceeds toward\u00a0thawing relations with the Kremlin, as demonstrated<\/a>\u00a0from yesterday’s talks in\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>\u00a0between diplomats of the two superpowers, apparently intended<\/a>\u00a0to divide (again) the world.<\/p>\n

Hence, the offensive charms<\/i>. The British leader<\/strong> lavished flattery on his powerful (and\u00a0erratic) interlocutor. Following Macron’s example on Monday<\/a>, Starmer, too, performed several\u00a0political balancing acts<\/strong>. Being as friendly as possible but correcting the tycoon<\/i><\/strong> when the latter repeated the (false) remarks that European countries would finance Kyiv only through loans<\/strong> and not, like the United States, through outright grants — the carrot and, if not quite the stick, a gentle twig.<\/p>\n

\"Emmanuel<\/a>
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) hosts his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Washington, Feb. 24, 2025 (photo via Imagoeconomica)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trump has “changed the conversation on Ukraine,”<\/strong> the Labor prime minister told<\/a>\u00a0the press. The US president, Starmer says, has opened “a window of enormous opportunity to reach a historic peace agreement”<\/strong> that would end the conflict. And now, “we want to work with you” and ensure it is “lasting.” However, we need to see if everyone means the same thing when talking about this phantom peace agreement.<\/p>\n

One of the British prime minister’s main demands – and the real reason for the giveaways – was a commitment from Washington to provide “cover” (backstop<\/i>) for any European peacekeeping<\/i> troops<\/strong> in the former Soviet republic. Like Zelensky, Macron, and the other leaders of the\u00a0Old Continent, Starmer also keeps repeating that the security guarantees that Kyiv needs will only be credible if they\u00a0involve the US military<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, Trump’s commitment is not precisely what London, Paris, and Brussels expected. “We will have a lot of people working” in Ukraine<\/strong>, the tycoon <\/em>explained, due to the agreement on critical raw materials<\/strong> that he is expected to sign this afternoon<\/a> with Zelensky. “It’s a security guarantee<\/strong>,” he reasoned, “I don’t think anyone will mock us if we are there with lots of workers.” After all, the US president said he believes<\/a> that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin<\/strong> will “keep his word” and respect a ceasefire<\/strong> when one is made.<\/p>\n

\"Volodymyr<\/a>
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (photo: European Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But what if that does not happen? Will Uncle Sam defend His Majesty’s peacekeepers<\/i> if\u00a0attacked? “The British are incredible soldiers,” Trump said<\/a>, “and they can take care of themselves<\/strong>.” “If they need help, I will always be with the British,” he clarified, reiterating that “they don’t need help<\/strong>.” Not exactly a reassurance to the European allies, who are wondering about the fate of NATO and the deterrence guaranteed by Article 5 of the Atlantic Charter<\/strong> (that enshrines the principle of collective defense): “I don’t think we will have any reason” to activate it, the president says.<\/p>\n

In the end, from his bilateral meeting, Starmer brings home vague\u00a0promises about a future trade agreement<\/strong> between the US and the UK to strengthen the special relationship between Washington and London: nothing more concrete. Indeed, if anything, it again confirms that the US military will not set foot in Ukraine. However,\u00a0in this day and age, when the Europeans (or rather the EU leadership, that Trump believes<\/a>\u00a0“was formed to screw the\u00a0US<\/strong>“) have to humiliate themselves like\u00a0in Canossa to meet someone<\/a> of the US\u00a0administration, already to have been received at the White House is an achievement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bilateral meeting at the White House was cordial, at least in front of the cameras. The British prime minister flattered the president, who continues not to budge from his position: no US troops to ensure Kyiv’s security<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":420041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[25802,26411,26042,27755,26260,30614,30509],"class_list":["post-420045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-emmanuel-macron-en","tag-guarantees-safety-en","tag-negotiations-war-ucraine-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420045"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420061,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420045\/revisions\/420061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}