Keir Starmer will have been pleased on Thursday after his meetings with Donald Trump managed to avoid any major gaffe or diplomatic incident. There was some relief when Trump chose not to repeat his past comment that Volodymyr Zelensky was a dictator. However, the same cannot be said of Friday’s meeting between Zelensky and the US president. Trump met the Ukrainian president at the door of the White House where he gave reporters a thumbs up ahead of his arrival. However, the mood quickly turned sour when they sat down for initial remarks ahead of talks and a press conference where the pair were expected to sign a US-proposed minerals deal with Ukraine.
Sat in the Oval office, Trump was accompanied by key members of his team including JD Vance and Marco Rubio. The mood music was initially positive as Trump said it would be ‘great’ if he and Zelensky can stop the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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