LOS ANGELES.–Meeting in the Lancaster House London near Buckingham Palace, 62-year-old Sir Keir Starmer hosted nine European countries to pick up the pieces over 47-yer-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting with 78-year-old President Donald Trump. Trump evicted Zelensky from the White House after he argued with he and Vice President J.D. Vance over the merits of the Ukraine War. Trump and Vance watched Zelensky deliver another sales pitch for keeping the war going or at least receiving U.S. cash-and-arms to continue the policy of 82-year-old former President Joe Biden. Zelensky had received a blank check from Biden for three years amounting to $300 billion, depending on who’s counting. Trump and Vance reacted harshly to Zelensky using Biden’s talking points to sell the war when he was supposed to sign a rare earth mineral deal.
Trump said Zelensky disrespected the Oval Office when he was suppose to sign the rare earth mineral deal to involve U.S. companies in Ukraine’s economy for a long time to come. Zelensky has been focused on obtaining security guarantees from the U.S. for any kind of peace deal with the Russian Federation. Trump and Vance berated Zelensky when he said the U.S. would pay a heavy price if they let Ukraine lose the war to the Kremlin or negotiated a one-sided peace deal that favored Moscow. Trump and Vance had heard enough with Vance telling Zelensky his country has been decimated by the Kremlin over the last three years. Vance told Zelensky he should thank Trump for trying to save his country with a peace deal that would benefit all Ukrainians to stop the carnage and destruction. Zelensky kept arguing with Trump until he was kicked out.
Meeting in Lancaster House, Starmer said he was there to restore peace talks which ended badly with Zelensky asked to leave the White House. U.S. and foreign press tended to blame Trump but Starmer’s message was clear to Zelensky that he had to resume the dialogue for peace in Ukraine. Starmer said while he doesn’t trust Putin, he does trust U.S. President Donald Trump to broker a lasting peace. If you listened to the U.S. and foreign press you’d think that purpose of the Lancaster meeting was to generate more cash-and-arms for Ukraine, not something discussed at all. Starmer kept his eye on the ball of working with Trump to get a peace deal at the earliest possible time. So, the message Zelensky got at Lancaster was to mend fences with Trump and let him put a peace deal together with Putin. Zelensky heard nothing about the EU taking over to fund Ukraine’s war.
Starmer tried to address the security concerns in a post-war Ukraine, saying that having the U.S. onboard was essential for a lasting peace. “If there is to be a deal, if there is to be stopping of fighting, that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there a temporary pause and then [Russian President Vladimir] Putin comes again,” Starmer said. So, contrary to the fake news narrative that the EU was stepping in where Trump has left off, Starmer wants to see a ceasefire and peace deal at the earliest possible time. “That has happened in the past. I think it is a real risk., and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it is a lasting deal, no a temporary pause,” Starmer said, advocating for a peace deal. Zelensky hoped the EU would agree to take over funding Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin, something the U.K. and Brussels seek to avoid.
Zelensky thought after his calamity with Trump that the U.K. and EU would pick up the pieces. But the overwhelming message he got at Lancaster was to finish working on a lasting peace deal with Trump. Starmer and EU officials agreed to present Trump some plan about a lasting peace deal. Starmer wants to keep arming Ukraine, provide EU security guarantees and provide a “U.S. backstop,” essentially assuring that the U.K. and EU security measure have teeth. But give Trump’s intent to reset U.S.-Russian relations, it’s doubtful Trump would provide anything that could be seen by Moscow as threatening. Trump wants a peace deal that does not included U.S. involvement. Trump thinks it’s time for the U.K. and EU to step up to defend Ukraine if they think it’s in their national security interests. No one in the EU has any clout with Putin or Kremlin at this point.
U.K. and EU leaders know it’s one thing to give Zelensky moral support it’s still another to supply Ukraine enough cash-and-arms to continue fighting the Kremlin. Whatever the resentment toward Trump, the U.K. and EU know that only Trump can get Putin to the peace table. All the fretting about security guarantees comes from Kiev, not from the U.K. and EU. Trump isn’t at all concerned about security assurances, he’s concerned about stopping the fighting and signing a lasting peace deal. Trump and Vance went off on Zelensky when he wasted their time in the Oval Office. Zelensky was supposed to politely sign a rare earth mineral deal, not argue about continuing the Biden blank check policy. Once Zelensky gave his old sales pitch to Trump and Vance, they both let him have it. Zelensky cracked under the pressure and showed he’s not the right person to make a deal.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
