Trump says he trusts Putin: "We are moving forward on a peace agreement in Ukraine"

Washington / LondonSecond round to the race against time to convince the United States not to leave Europe aside and not to turn the peace negotiations "into the surrender of Ukraine," as French President Emmanuel Macron said on MondayBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Donald Trump on Thursday with the aim of trying to convince him to provide security guarantees in Kiev to prevent a future Russian invasion if peace is reached in the coming weeks or months. Trump has told Starmer that the rare earths deal will be “a guarantee” of security for Ukraine and has insisted: “We need the rare earths.”

Starmer returns to London without any security guarantees for Ukraine and without having managed to convince Trump that he cannot rely only on the word of Russian President Vladimir Putin to achieve peace. Still, despite Moscow having previously violated a truce due to lack of guarantees, Trump has insisted that he does not believe it will happen again: “I don’t think so, this will be the deal.” He has also pointed out that they are “open to many options” regarding the possibility of other ways to guarantee Ukraine’s security.

During his meeting with Trump, Macron not only insisted that peace should not mean "the surrender of Ukraine," but warned him of the importance of giving security guarantees to Kiev to defend itself against future Russian aggression. The Frenchman reminded Trump of what happened in 2014, when his predecessors negotiated peace with Putin, but "due to the lack of security guarantees," Russia ended up violating the agreement. However, it seems that the American has not listened too much to the advice, since the text of the agreement The Ukrainian rare earths deal The US does not make explicit any commitment to security guarantees for Kiev in the event of future Russian aggression.

The speed with which negotiations on the future of Ukraine are being rushed has made Starmer's visit a prelude to the meeting, this Friday, between the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump. "Progress towards peace will continue when Zelensky visits the White House. He will be here tomorrow morning at the first hour and he will sign a historic agreement that will make the United States the main development partner for Ukraine's minerals and rare earths, as well as for oil and gas," said the Republican in the joint press conference with Starmer. Trump has stated that the next step we take "is towards a ceasefire." "I believe that we are going to have a successful peace and that it will last a long time. If it does not happen quickly, we may not have anything," insisted the president.

After boycotting Ukraine from the opposition and campaigning on a promise to cut economic and military aid, Trump could find it very costly to commit in writing to continue providing support to the Ukrainians. On the other hand, if Ukraine ends up becoming a valuable territory for the United States in economic terms – as would happen with the agreement to exploit rare earths – the Republican could justify before Congress the processing of new packages if it were necessary to send aid and, for show, he could justify it by saying that it is about protecting American interests. Whatever the case, Trump has made it convenient for himself so as not to have to make a firm commitment to Zelensky regarding the protection of Kiev and at the same time have a card up his sleeve to play in case the relationship with Moscow becomes cloudy.

Trump denies having called Zelensky a "dictator"

There has also been no shortage of praise for Putin. The US president has said that he is doing "a good job" in achieving the peace agreement. Washington's rapprochement with Moscow continues to be the norm, while friction with Kiev persists. One of the journalists asked Trump if he still thinks that Zelensky is a "dictator" - as he accused him of last week - and the tycoon played it cool: "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that." He even said: "We want to work with him and we will work with him. I think the president and I really have a good relationship, perhaps it has been a little complicated." He also stressed: "The relationship between Zelensky and Putin is not good, I don't know if you have noticed."

Upon arrival at the White House, the British president thanked the tycoon for "bringing" the possibility of achieving peace in Ukraine and handed him an invitation from King Charles of England for a new visit to Great Britain, which the American accepted. The gesture is intended to appeal to Trump's ego and be a way to revive relations between the two Anglo-Saxon countries.

The British man's more restrained character does not predict the same effusive images that the Frenchman starred in, but he comes with a gift: the commitment, signed this week, that the United Kingdom will invest more in defense: a present with small print, since it will not be until 2030 that it will represent 3% of the country's GDP.

London's commitment to spend more on defense has been appreciated by Trump, although he has again insisted that allies must contribute more to NATO. "The disaster in Ukraine shows exactly why it is so important for the United Kingdom and other NATO partners to make large investments in their defense capabilities, in many cases, 4% or 5%," said the American. Starmer has agreed with him and has stated that he believes that "it is important to take a step forward to give more in defense and security."

The visit of the premier, The statement by Macron, who has not ruled out sending troops on a hypothetical peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, and which Russia does not accept, adds to the efforts of Macron, who has set himself up as the EU's spokesman against the Republican. The French president also expressed his support for sending peacekeeping troops, but always with the cover of the Americans. Washington, for the moment, does not want to hear about getting more involved in the conflict and taking charge of sending peacekeeping troops once the end of the conflict for Ukraine is confirmed. For the moment, the Kremlin has already denied the American and has reaffirmed its refusal to have this type of soldiers. "Something will be done that is satisfactory for everyone," Trump replied on Tuesday from the Oval Office.

Starmer has had to adjust to Russia's refusal to provide European peacekeeping troops, as when asked he repeated Trump's premise: "As the president says, the agreement must first be made. But yes, our teams will talk about how to ensure that this agreement is maintained, is durable and lasts."

The British also arrives in Washington after the symbolic break in the United Nations Security Council. On Monday, the United States staged a scene that was unthinkable just a few months ago: voting for resolutions favorable to Russia in the conflict. The Americans managed to push through a resolution that simply "implores a quick end to the conflict and calls for a lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." The United Kingdom and France did not veto it, but abstained.