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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting the White House on Thursday to try to convince President Donald Trump that a lasting peace in Ukraine will endure only if Kyiv and European leaders are at the table as negotiations move forward with Moscow.
Associated Press reporter Jill Lawless said the meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office was a warm reception.
Starmer and Frech President Emmanuel Macron, who also recently visited the White House, are leading a push for European countries to have some kind of peacekeeping force that could be deployed in Ukraine after a cease fire.
“President Trump is obviously pushing for that ceasefire in concert with Vladimir Putin of Russia, much to the dismay, you could say, of Ukraine. So, I think these talks are seen as Britain by as a way of getting everyone on the same page, making sure Ukraine will have a voice and a say in those peace talks,” Lawless said.
The issue of tariffs was also addressed.
Trump is threatening to impose tariffs on a wide range of countries, and Britain is hoping that the fact that it left the European Union might allow it to escape the tariffs that Trump has said he's going to impose on that bloc.
“Trump was not committal about it. He said they would have a good discussion about it, and he thought something could probably be worked out,” Lawless said.
Starmer also delivered an invitation from King Charles III to Trump, inviting him on a state visit.