Ukraine updates: UK's Starmer meets Trump in Washington

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday that he had discussed a Ukraine peace deal that would be "tough and fair" with US President Donald Trump at a joint news conference following their meeting at the White House.

Starmer also said "Ukraine will help shape" the deal "backed by strength to stop Putin coming back for more."

He agreed with Trump on upping spending on defense among European countries.

At the news conference, Trump praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his defense against Russia's invasion.

"We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him. We've given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely," Trump said.

The US president added he and Zelenskyy would have a "very good meeting" on Friday.

The two leaders are expected to sign a deal in Washington that would give the US a share in Ukraine's mineral wealth.

In a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, US President Donald Trump said that following successful calls with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents that he felt a peace agreement will be announced "fairly soon or won't be at all."

He went on to claim the war would not have started had he been president and that a peace agreement would prevent a "war on European soil."

For his part, Starmer said, "We need to win the peace in Ukraine." He also added that any peace agreement could not "reward the aggressor."

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said NATO offered the best security guarantee for Ukraine and accused US President Donald Trump of falling for a Russian narrative by closing the door.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed Ukraine's bid to join NATO.

In an interview with the AFP news agency in Washington, Kallas also warned that the Europeans would not be able to help with a possible deal on Ukraine if they were not brought on board by Trump, who has sought to negotiate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kallas arrived in Washington on Wednesday and had previously announced plans to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But the meeting was canceled, with a European Union spokesman citing "scheduling issues."

US President Donald Trump told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom he welcomed to the White House for talks, that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is moving forward and that the United States has had good discussions with both countries.

Trump said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will honor any peace deal made with Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago. The Kremlin leader will "keep his word," the US president said.

Trump also stressed that a ceasefire must be reached in Ukraine before a decision can be taken on deploying foreign peacekeepers.

Trump also said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would sign an agreement on joint minerals extraction in Ukraine when the Ukrainian leader visits the White House on Friday.

The US president downplayed an earlier jibe calling Zelenskyy a "dictator." "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that," Trump responded when asked by journalists about his comment made this month in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Meanwhile, Starmer said he would discuss with Trump how to ensure that any Ukraine peace deal is not violated by Russia, speaking alongside Trump ahead of a meeting in Washington.

"We've talked and we will talk about how we work with yourself, Mr. President, to ensure that this deal is something which is not violated, because it's very important that if there is a deal, we keep it," the British prime minister said.

Starmer also handed Trump a hand-signed letter from King Charles III, inviting US President Donald Trump to make an "unprecedented" second state visit to the UK.

Trump, who has long been a vocal fan of the British royal family, immediately accepted the invitation.

NATO allies to Ukraine are preparing billions more in aid to the war-torn country and contributions to security guarantees, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media platform X.

"NATO Allies are moving quickly to invest more in defence. Big increases announced and others to follow," Rutte wrote.

He also said he had a great conversation with US President Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the first Russia-US talks provide some hope of resolving "problems" such as the Ukraine conflict.

"The first contacts with the new US administration inspire certain hope. There is a mutual desire to work on restoring relations," Putin said in televised comments to members of the FSB security service.

"There is a reciprocal mood to work to restore intergovernmental ties and to gradually resolve the huge number of systemic and strategic problems that have built up in the world's security architecture," he added.

But Putin said it was clear not everyone would embrace the idea of warmer relations between Russia and the US. "Some Western elites are still determined to maintain instability in the world, and these forces will try to disrupt or compromise the dialogue that has begun," he said, "claiming to disrupt such attempts."

The remark looked like a reference to the European Union and Britain, which have raised concerns about the prospect of any Russia-US talks to end the war in Ukraine that do not have Kyiv and the EU at the negotiating table.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over three years ago and has occupied parts of the country for more than 10 years. 

Turkey is open to the idea of providing troops for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Bloomberg News has reported with reference to unnamed sources.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the matter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during separate meetings in Ankara earlier this month, the Bloomberg report said.

France, like the United States, is seeking access to Ukraine's mineral resources for military purposes, according to Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

Lecornu told France Info radio that talks with Ukraine to obtain valuable raw materials for the French defense industry have been underway since October.

"Our defense industry will need a number of very critical raw materials in our own weapons systems, and not just for the next year, but for the next 30 or 40 years," he said.

The French minister said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a number of proposals, not only to the United States, but also to France.

Paris also plans to propose to its EU partners the creation of arms depots in European countries as part of the security guarantees for Ukraine. 

"This is a way to prevent the war from flaring up again," Lecornu said.

France will put forward this idea "so that various European countries can participate," he added.

 

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at an airport stopover, as the Ukrainian leader travels to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, said Irish public broadcaster RTE.

In brief remarks as the two met at Shannon Airport, Zelenskyy thanked both Martin for his support and the Irish people for providing shelter to Ukrainians fleeing the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.

Martin, who took over as Taoiseach last month following a general election in November, pledged Ireland's support for Ukraine during the talks.

During a meeting of world leaders in Kyiv earlier this week, on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion, Martin pledged an increase in financial humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Last week, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris signaled that the EU member might consider sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Trump on Friday and is expected to sign a deal for US access to Ukraine's mineral resouces. The Ukrainian leader hopes to secure guarantees of future US support in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that annexed territories like Crimea were "inseperable" parts of the country that they would not cede in possible peace talks with Ukraine.

"The territories which have become subjects of the Russian Federation, which are inscribed in our country's constitution, are an inseparable part of our country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"This is undeniable and non-negotiable," French news agency AFP quoted him as saying.

Crimea was first annexed by Russia in 2014. Following the invasion in 2022, they also laid claim to Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. They control nearly all of the former two regions, but just part of the latter two.

Officials from Washington and Moscow met in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the next step in normalizing ties — returning their respective embassies to normal operations.

The move would follow years of expelling each other's diplomats and reducing operations at both embassies. It marks the latest development in the Trump administration's policy of concessions to Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that embassy and consulate operations had been the main topic of the meeting in Turkey.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that least one person has been killed in the Belgorod region overnight following a series of drone strikes.

"A local resident was killed as a result of an explosive device being launched by a drone at a car" in the town of Graivoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media.

The Defense Ministry also said that it had successfully shot down 19 drones overnight. Ukraine has stepped up strikes on military and infrastructure targets in recent weeks, following massive Russian bombardment of Ukrainian energy facilities throughout the winter.

According to South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), the North has sent more soldiers to back up Russian troops in Ukraine.

The NIS said that North Korean troops appeared to be stationed in Russia's southern Kursk Oblast following a short-term withdrawal from the region.

On top of supplying Russia with vast amounts of weapons, assessments indicate that Pyongyang has sent at least 10,000 troops since last fall, with an additional 1,000 joining them in recent weeks. However, their lack of experience has made them easy targets for drone attacks. In January, the NIS reported that about 300 North Koreans had died in the conflict and some 2,700 had been injured.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was headed to the White House on Thursday as European leaders have been feeling increasingly shut out of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

"We're going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides," US President Donald Trump said Wednesday at a US Cabinet meeting. "For Ukraine, we're going to try very hard to make a good deal so that they can get as much (land) back as possible."

Since taking office, the US president has shown himself willing to make major concessions to Moscow, including siding with Russia during a UN vote on condeming the invasion.

The meeting with Starmer comes a day before Trump is sent to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a contentious agreement that would see Ukraine hand over rare earth minerals in exchange for US aid.