Starmer speaks to Trump and Zelensky following White House row

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a meeting between the two leaders in Washington descended into a row about US support for Ukraine.

Zelensky was welcomed to the White House by Trump, but the cordial talks ended in a shouting match in front of the media in the Oval Office as Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart to be more thankful for US aid and accused him of “gambling with World War Three”.

A statement from No 10 on Friday night confirmed the prime minister had spoken with the US and Ukrainian presidents and that he retained “unwavering support for Ukraine”.

Zelensky is due in the UK on Sunday as Sir Keir hosts a summit of European leaders to discuss an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister has tonight spoken to both President Trump and President Zelensky.

“He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine.”

The Oval Office spat prompted words of support for Zelensky from key European allies including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor, wrote that he stood with Ukraine “in good and testing times”, adding: “We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.”

Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC there remains a “sliver of hope”.

“Trump wants a sustainable peace in Ukraine because he sees this as a very big part in his legacy and he wants that to last for many years,” Hunt told the Today programme.

“He doesn’t want to withdraw from Ukraine and abandon it to the Russians in the way that the United States abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban, he knows that would be very bad for his reputation, for America’s reputation, so in the end he needs a ceasefire that both Zelensky and Putin are part of.”

Mr Hunt stressed that what was needed for negotiations to restart was “a little bit of time” for “tempers to cool down”.

In the heated clash at the White House, both Trump and Zelensky interrupted each other repeatedly during what was supposed to be a prelude to the two leaders signing a minerals deal.

US Vice President JD Vance, sat alongside others in the room, was also involved.

A press conference scheduled to take place later in the day was cancelled, and Zelensky was asked to leave the White House before the minerals agreement could be signed.

In a later interview with Fox News, Zelensky said the public spat “was not good” – but the relationship between him and Trump could be salvaged.

Sir Keir had met with Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, and the pair agreed to begin work on a new US-UK trade deal.

The prime minister also came bearing a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump for a second state visit.

There had been speculation that Sir Keir had also gone into the meeting to seek a US Security “backstop” in a European peace plan for the war in Ukraine. However, the US president stopped short of confirming such a commitment.

Trump had previously criticised Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met on Monday, of having “done nothing” to seek an end to the war in Ukraine.

Reaction to Friday’s meeting between Trump and Zelensky appeared to largely fall along partisan lines among US politicians, with Republicans praising Trump and Democrats criticising him.

Meanwhile in the UK, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch said in a statement “respectable diplomacy is essential for peace”, adding that a “divided West only benefits Russia”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey suggested Trump and Vance were “bullying the brave true patriot Zelensky into accepting a deal that effectively hands victory to Russia”.

The leader of the SNP at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said the offer to Trump of a second state visit should be revoked.

In Ukraine, there was broad appreciation for Zelensky holding his ground over what many Ukrainians see as an existential war.

“Trump’s administration was so arrogant,” one man in Kyiv told the BBC. “When you look at Zelensky’s face, you understand that the discussion behind closed doors was not so polite.”

Russia, meanwhile, said Trump and Vance had acted with restraint. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said it was a miracle the pair had not hit Zelensky.