EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump’s US team will broker discussions between the Kremlin and Kyiv this week – with the coalition formed by Keir Starmer nowhere to be seen
Donald Trump has once again humiliated Keir Starmer on the world stage (Image: Getty Images)
Sir Keir Starmer has been humiliated by Donald Trump once more as his European ‘coalition of the willing’ has been yet again frozen out of US-hosted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin revealed on Friday that another round of negotiations between envoys from Russia and Ukraine will take place next week in Geneva, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion that shattered peace on the continent.
Negotiators heading to Geneva have the tough task of finding compromises that are palatable to both Moscow and Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adviser, Vladimir Medinsky, who headed Moscow’s team of negotiators in the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul in March 2022, is returning to lead his country’s delegation.
Ukraine’s delegation will again be led by Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council chief.
It has still not been confirmed who the US representative at the talks will be, but previous discussions in the UAE were attended by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, alongside White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron (Image: Getty Images)
Professor Anthony Glees, security and foreign policy expert from the University of Buckingham, described the lack of European representation at the latest round of peace talks as “bizarre”.
He told the Express: “Russia’s appalling attack four years ago was an attack by the maniac Putin on a European nation and everyone in Europe has been badly affected by it, ourselves included, but the brave and proud people of Ukraine most of all.
“But now instead of being at these crucial talks, the European NATO nations will be outside, pressing their noses up against the glass, doing their best to silently boost Ukraine at what could be make-or-break talks.”
Prof Glees fears this is the latest in a long line of key indicators that the US, and the Trump administration in particular, has completely given up on Europe as a long-term project. This was highlighted this weekend at the global security conference in Munich, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused current EU leaders of “trying to rationalise the broken status quo in Europe”.
In the eyes of the MAGA crowd, the failure of the European powers to properly protect themselves has left a host of countries unable to provide the strength Trump clearly feels the US needs in its allies.
“We’re not there because it’s the last thing on Earth Trump wants,” Prof Glees went on.
Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a peace summit in Alaska (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“America continues to complain about Europe. We still cling to the old rules-based thinking, we won’t control our borders, we believe in a global welfare state and feel guilty about our imperial and colonial past.
“But there can never be a meeting of minds here, however much Sir Keir Starmer may want us to avoid having to choose between America and Europe.
“Few in Britain think ‘might is right’ is a better way to try to solve global problems; Brits have always felt sorry for those dealt far worse cards than our own.
“This is why Europe is not wanted when it comes to making peace in Ukraine.
“Trump thinks we’ll screw it up.”
European leaders attend Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump at the White House (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022, sparking an international crisis and threatening to capture Kyiv in the opening days of the war. Ukraine, with strong backing from European allies and the US, eventually halted the Kremlin’s forces’ advance and launched its own counter-offensive – even seizing a small piece of Russian territory in return.
But since then, the war has ground on well with front lines ebbing and flowing, with both sides suffering economically as well as sustaining brutal casualties. The war will mark its fourth anniversary later this month.
There had been hopes that Trump might be able to apply pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv to come to the negotiating table and reach an agreement to end the fighting, but those hopes have been dashed time and again.
Trump’s frustration at not being able to end the war inside 24 hours of coming to power, as he famously claimed he would be able to do during his election campaign, has been apparent for some time.
The US leader has frequently hit out at Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelensky, most recently on Friday, when he told reporters at the White House: “Russia wants to make a deal and Zelensky’s gonna have to get moving, otherwise he’s going to miss a great opportunity.”
Many fear that the 47th President of the United States is about to pressure Kyiv into huge concessions to Putin in a bid to end the war, and Prof Glees falls firmly into this camp.
He said: “Trump has consistently put far more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia.
“Yes, US sanctions on Russian oil are causing problems for the Russian economy, but, for the time being, Putin couldn’t care less.
“He’s playing poker with Trump as he always does and each time so far Trump has backed down to Putin’s advantage.”
