Friend or foe? Keir Starmer now walks a tightrope between Europe and US

Even as Keir Starmer and his entourage heaved sighs of relief and tried =
 =

not to grin too broadly as they filed out of the Oval Office after the  =

prime minister=E2=80=99s meeting with Donald Trump, there were some in B=
ritish  =

circles who were, even then, anxious.

The invitation from King Charles for a second state visit had been hande=
d  =

over to Trump in person and opened before the cameras. Trump, for once, =
 =

had seemed genuinely lost for words. Starmer had at one point put his ha=
nd  =

on Trump=E2=80=99s shoulder like a close friend or relative to emphasise=
 their  =

closeness as the UK delegation looked on, stony-faced but amazed.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/01/friend-or-foe-keir-star=
mer-now-walks-a-tightrope-between-europe-and-us

In the immediate, choreographed sense, Trump had given Starmer, who had =
 =

prepared the ground well by committing to increase UK defence expenditur=
e,  =

everything that he could have wished for =E2=80=93 and more.

He had praised the PM=E2=80=99s strong negotiating stance on tariffs, la=
uded the  =

special relationship, past, present and future, and even admired Starmer=
=E2=80=99s  =

=E2=80=9Cbeautiful accent.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CI would have been president=
 20 years ago if I had  =

that accent,=E2=80=9D Trump said.

But some people with knowledge of Trump=E2=80=99s behaviour down the yea=
rs, and  =

how he veers from one mood and modus operandi to another within hours or=
  =

even minutes, noted that some very important things had been left  =

worryingly unclear and unresolved. All was not as well as it might on  =

first impressions have appeared to be.

There were areas where detail was obviously lacking. One was over Europe=
  =

and Ukraine=E2=80=99s demands that the US must provide a security backst=
op in the  =

event of any Trump-brokered peace deal. =E2=80=9CThere was nothing on th=
at.  =

Starmer got nothing,=E2=80=9D said one UK source.

It was this same glaring absence that would be exposed less than 24 hour=
s  =

later in another meeting in the Oval Office that went the very opposite =
of  =

smoothly. This time it led to an explosive row between Trump and Ukraine=
=E2=80=99s  =

president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sitting on the same White House chairs  =

where Starmer and Trump had bonded.

That the British had immediately patted themselves on the back after the=
ir  =

Trump meeting was understandable, a Foreign Office source said. =E2=80=9C=
If Trump  =

is in a =E2=80=98good host=E2=80=99 mood, being told everything he wants=
 to hear, then it  =

is inevitable that people will think it went well, but there may have be=
en  =

some optimism bias going on, just because it could have been so much  =

worse.=E2=80=9D

And so it proved. On Sunday, just three days after having left the White=
  =

House on such apparently good terms with the US president, Starmer is  =

hosting European leaders in London =E2=80=93 the same European leaders w=
ho on  =

Friday night wasted no time in sending Zelenskyy strong messages of  =

support after his brutal humiliation at the hands of Trump and his  =

vice-president, JD Vance.

As the on-camera Oval Office meeting went off the rails =E2=80=93 after =
Zelenskyy  =

tried to put his points over security guarantees and Trump told him  =

=E2=80=9Cyou=E2=80=99re gambling with world war three=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93=
 Ukrainian ambassador Oksana  =

Markarova buried her head in her hands. Once the media had left, Trump a=
nd  =

his team reportedly remained while Zelenskyy and his entourage went to  =

another room.

Ukrainian efforts to get the talks back on track went nowhere. The White=
  =

House cancelled a working lunch, joint press conference and signing of a=
  =

deal that would give the US greater access to Ukraine=E2=80=99s rare ear=
th  =

minerals. Zelenskyy was asked to leave.

More than 100 reporters then crammed shoulder to shoulder on a driveway =
 =

outside the West Wing of the White House to watch the Ukrainian presiden=
t  =

depart in a black SUV. An Australian TV reporter yelled at departing  =

officials: =E2=80=9CHow do you feel after that Oval Office meeting? Were=
 you  =

brought here for public humiliation?=E2=80=9D

Among the Europeans who rallied to Zelenskyy=E2=80=99s side were Friedri=
ch Merz,  =

the German CDU leader whose party won the largest vote share in federal =
 =

elections in February. He posted online: =E2=80=9CWe stand with #Ukraine=
 in good  =

and in testing times. We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this=
  =

terrible war.=E2=80=9D On Saturday, Starmer met a bruised Zelenskyy in L=
ondon and  =

his message was the same.

=E2=80=9CIt is really hard to keep up. I think Keir is finding out just =
how hard  =

being the bridge between Trump and Europe is going to be,=E2=80=9D obser=
ved one  =

British minister.

Before Sunday=E2=80=99s meeting, which will be attended by the leaders o=
f France,  =

Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Denmark among others, and non-EU  =

countries including Canada, Turkey and Ukraine, Starmer put out a  =

statement that leaned towards the Europeans on Ukraine. When in Rome, do=
  =

as the Romans do. Zelenskyy=E2=80=99s spokesperson also said that the Uk=
rainian  =

president would be meeting the king while in the UK.

### - wow, see them all scrambling now to find firm ground to stand on a=
nd  =

there isn't any and really never was? with it looking like america's  =

pulling-out and the whole of europe still staunchly united 'against'  =

putin, they're effectively ALL now banging the drums of war while talkin=
g  =

about maintaining the peace??

starmer along with everyone else now taking-up the hue & cry of "peace  =

through strength" as justification to arm themselves to the teeth and  =

screw spending on public services, more guns, more soldiers, more drums!=
  =

bang bang bang bang bang!

it not occurring to even ONE of them to consider making peace with russi=
a??

no, it's all and everything AGAINST russia, against against against! whe=
n  =

really they could just as easily end all this and let everything go back=
  =

to the way it was before it even started?

europe was doing alright! we'd come through austerity and everyone was  =

making money again... everyone dealing with russia and getting along jus=
t  =

fine, putin even joking at one point that we were all doing so well that=
  =

maybe russia could join nato one day? (that's a helluva joke!!!)

but no, america wanted nato to expand to put more pressure on russia and=
  =

the whole of europe went merrily along with it, scrapping the minsk  =

agreement effectively forcing russia to take it or leave it, and they  =

chose to leave it which has resulted in all this!

whereas methinks the answer's staring them all in the face but they can'=
t  =

see it?

and that's to STOP threatening russia with one thing or another, disband=
  =

nato the 'armed force' and create an ostensibly 'unarmed' federal europe=
,  =

and invite russia to join!

a few decades down the line all the fears and threats would then begin t=
o  =

fade away, good trade and business practices taking the place of plottin=
g  =

and planning, russia's got incredible resources but they don't trust us =
 =

either, so again it would take a while to work that trust into the syste=
m  =

over a longer period of time, armies will shrink away from lack of need,=
  =

the UN could then be reborn as the world police and a much fairer voting=
  =

system implemented (i'd suggest one nation one vote and no powers of vet=
o  =

so everyone has to abide by it...)

and ffs TALK to china as well, another rich and powerful nation that cou=
ld  =

help change the whole planet for the better if not forced to worry about=
  =

their own security all the time... america too could chip-in as part of =
a  =

'world' community, and if nations wanna compete let them compete about w=
ho  =

does the most for the planet in the most efficient way, and let there be=
  =

global awards & rewards for that as encouragement!

coz we urgently need to grow-up on this planet! and we need to do it  =

quickly!

we certainly COULD do it, the question is: WILL we??

currently things are looking pretty dark otherwise!

they're all going the wrong way...