LONDON – ABOARD THE PRIME MINISTER'U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer flew to Washington on Wednesday after announcing a big increase in the British defense budget, an investment that he hopes will help persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain support for Ukraine as Washington pushes to end the war.
Though Starmer is touting the trans-Atlantic “special relationship” that has endured since World War II, he faces an uncertain reception. Trump has upended decades of U.S. foreign policy during his first weeks in office.
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Ukraine and its European allies are scrambling to respond after the Trump administration engaged directly with Moscow on ending the war in Ukraine. Starmer’s visit to the White House on Thursday is part of European efforts — following a trip to Washington by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week — to ensure Kyiv gets a voice in negotiations, and that the U.S. still backs Europe in dealing with an aggressive Russia on its doorstep.
Starmer confirmed he will host a meeting of international leaders in the U.K. on Sunday, focused on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
European countries are striving to bolster their collective defense as Trump transforms American foreign policy. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the U.S. provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.
Starmer told reporters aboard his plane that he’s confident Trump is committed to the NATO alliance and agrees “there’s only one aggressor (in Ukraine) and that’s Russia.”
Starmer announced Tuesday that the U.K. government will hike military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027, years earlier than expected, and will aim to hit 3% by 2035. He called it the “biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War.”
The U.K.'s defense secretary, John Healey, said that “President Trump, over the last two weeks, has been very direct in his challenge” to European allies.
“He’s reinforced the imperative and the importance of Britain making this commitment and helping other European countries to step up in a similar way,” Healey told the BBC.
Starmer's trip comes after Washington and Kyiv struck an economic deal that would give the U.S. access to a share of Ukraine’s lucrative rare earth mineral deposits. Kyiv hopes that signing the agreement will ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support that Ukraine urgently needs.
Trump told reporters Wednesday ahead of the first meeting of his Cabinet that Zelenskyy is also due to visit the White House on Friday to sign a “very big agreement.”
Starmer has offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a force to safeguard a ceasefire under a plan being championed by the U.K. and France, but says an American “backstop” will be needed to ensure a lasting peace.
Trump hasn’t committed to providing security guarantees for Ukraine, saying Wednesday that he wants “Europe do that, because Europe is the next door neighbor.”
Starmer said “intense” discussions are underway about the details of a Europe-led military force. He repeated his assertion that the U.S. will have to help underpin it.
“I’m considering how we preserve peace in Europe and how we get a lasting peace in Ukraine. And I’m absolutely convinced that we need a lasting peace, not a cease-fire, and for that to happen we need security guarantees,” Starmer said.
“We will play our part and I’ve been clear that we will need a U.S. backstop of some sort … because I don’t think there will be a deterrent to Putin if we don’t have one.”
Michael Clarke, visiting professor of war studies at King’s College London, said that Starmer would “try and be a Trump whisperer,” while persuading the president to “see some realities of European security.”
Starmer, a stolid, center-left lawyer who is Trump’s polar opposite in outlook and temperament, has worked hard to charm the president. He flew to New York in September for dinner at Trump Tower. He has appointed Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador in Washington. Mandelson is a former Labour Party Cabinet minister nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness,” because of his mastery of political intrigue.
Mandelson and Starmer also are hoping to spare the U.K. the sweeping tariffs Trump has vowed to impose on the European Union and other trading partners. The U.S. is Britain’s largest single trading partner, with a roughly equal balance of imports and exports — something that may help it avoid Trump-imposed taxes on goods.
Over the Atlantic, Starmer reiterated his belief that Britain can be a “bridge” between Europe and America.
“I’ve been absolutely resolute that we’re not going to choose between one side of the Atlantic or the other,” he said. “We will work with the U.S. we will work with our European allies. That’s what we’ve done for decades and it’s what we’ll do whilst I’m prime minister.”