Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have come under fire from the US president, who claims they have “done nothing” to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
Trump claimed that Sir Keir was a “nice guy” and that Macron was a “good friend,” but he also claimed that Russia has only joined the discussion “because of me.”
Next week, the British prime minister and the president of France are scheduled to travel to Washington to meet with Trump.Ahead of their visits to the White House next week, Donald Trump claims that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron “have not done anything” to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
The US president also claims that Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has “no cards” in peace talks, telling Fox News that “I do not think he is very important to be in meetings.”
As he exhorts colleagues to concentrate on “what will actually happen” in addition to what is said, UK cabinet minister Pat McFadden claims that Britain is in a “potentially good position” with Trump.
In contrast to Trump, the US envoy to Ukraine earlier referred to Zelensky as a “courageous leader.” Donald Trump does not seem to be changing his stance on his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He stated that he “does not think he is [Zelenskyy] very important to be at meetings” in an interview on Fox Radio.
He has been negotiating without cards for years, and I have been observing him. He does not have any cards. You grow tired of it. You simply grow tired of it. And I have had enough,” he remarked.
“He has attended meetings for three years, but nothing has been accomplished. To be honest with you, I do not think attending meetings is that important. Deal-making is extremely difficult with him.
Trump has been criticised for leaving Europe and Ukraine out of talks with Moscow on Tuesday, with fears the US may force Kyiv into concessions to strike a deal with Russia.
Other Western leaders have warned Vladimir Putin doesn’t have “appetite” for peace, but Trump said in the same interview he believes otherwise.
“He doesn’t have to make a deal,” he added. “Because if he wanted, he would get the whole country.”
When host Brian Kilmeade put it to him that the war is Putin’s fault, Trump responded: “I get tired of listening to it, I’ll tell you what.”
He also described his treasury secretary’s trip to Kyiv last week as a “waste of time”.
Scott Bessent had gone to explore a deal for the US to access Ukraine’s wealth of mineral resources.
“Frankly, I wish he didn’t go there, waste all of his time like that,” he said.