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9:41 23.09.2025 •
U.S. President Donald Trump and British PM Keir Starmer hold a bilateral meeting at Chequers during a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England.
Photo: Getty Images
For all their declarations of mutual admiration and close alignment, President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were unable to maintain a united front on the war between Russia and Ukraine, POLITICO notes.
The two leaders both insisted they want a ceasefire but were at odds over the best way to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has in recent weeks amped up attacks on Ukraine.
Trump, during a joint press conference outside London, told reporters that he remains disappointed in Putin but evaded multiple questions about what he planned to do next.
Starmer, who said Trump has “led the way” in trying to end the war in Ukraine, was far firmer about the need for increasing economic pressure on Moscow — and blunt in pointing out that Putin has ramped up his attacks on Ukraine after his summit with Trump last month.
In an implicit rebuttal to Trump’s claim that the U.S. and Britain were geographically at a remove from the fighting and that the war “doesn’t affect” either country, Starmer noted that Russia in recent days has targeted the British Council in Kyiv as well as the European Union’s embassy there, as well as the drone incursions into NATO air space.
Trump, asked again toward the end of the press conference about whether he’s ready to impose additional sanctions on Russia, said that Europe needed to take action first to end oil purchases from Russia.
“If the price of oil comes down, Putin’s going to drop out. He’s going to have no choice,” Trump said. “I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia.”
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