Trump tells Starmer rare earths deal will be 'a guarantee' for 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 Wednesday 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 lands agreement will be "a guarantee" for Ukraine and has insisted: "We need the rare lands"

The speed with which negotiations on the future of Ukraine are proceeding has turned Starmer's visit into a prelude to the meeting, this Friday, between Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump. "We have spoken and will continue to speak about how we will work with you, Mr President, to ensure that this agreement is not violated, because it is very important that, if there is an agreement, we comply with it," said Starmer on the issues that will be discussed with Trump. Asked if the Republican believes Putin will violate the agreement again if there are not enough guarantees, he replied: "I don't think so, this will be the agreement."

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 Trump has not made explicit any commitment to security guarantees for Kiev in the event of future Russian aggression.

After boycotting Ukraine from the opposition and campaigning on a promise to cut economic and military aid, it could cost Trump dearly to commit in writing to continue supporting 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, in public, he could justify it on the grounds that it is about protecting American interests. In any case, Trump has made it convenient for him to avoid having 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 was also no shortage of praise for Putin. The US president said that he was doing "a good job" in achieving a 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 dumb: "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that." He even said that: "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 that "the relationship between Zelensky and Putin is not good, I don't know if you have noticed."

Upon arriving at the White House, the British man thanked the tycoon for having "brought" 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 very 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.

The visit of the premier, The fact that the US does not rule out sending troops on a hypothetical peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, which Russia does not accept, is added to the effort of Macron, who has become the spokesman for the EU against the Republican. The French president has also shown himself to be in favour of sending peacekeeping troops, but always with the cover of the Americans, a circumstance that Washington, for the moment, does not want to hear about in terms of getting more involved in the conflict and taking charge of sending peacekeeping troops once the end of the conflict for Ukraine is signed. 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 responded on Tuesday from the Oval Office.

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: that of voting resolutions in favour of Russia in the conflict. The Americans managed to push through a resolution that simply "implores a speedy 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.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned "Western elites" not to interfere in talks between Russia and the US. Putin, who has found in the US president the best ally to undermine the commitment of the European Union and the United Kingdom with Ukraine, said on Thursday thatare discussed with Washington The US administration has given grounds for "some hope" of resolving "problems" such as the conflict in Ukraine. A resolution in which neither Putin nor Trump have the opinion of Volodymyr Zelensky.

"The first contacts with the new US administration give some hope. There is a mutual desire to work to restore relations," Putin said during a meeting of the Russian security agency FSB.

However, he warned that "some Western elites will try to undermine our dialogue," which this Thursday saw a new chapter in Istanbul, after the first meeting with Saudi Arabia last week. Basically, Putin is referring to the recent demonstrations, both Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, of necessity that there are peacekeeping troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, with the essential cover of the US military machine.

The talks on Thursday between Russians and Americans have lasted for six hours, and have focused on the reestablishment of diplomatic personnel in the respective embassies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has assured that "nobody expects easy and quick decisions. But with the political will of both countries, with the willingness to listen to each other and understand each other, we will be able to advance in this work process."