Politics

Trump would ‘help’ U.K. peacekeepers in Ukraine if Russia attacked them

U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: PAP/EPA/CHRIS KLEPONIS / POOL
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: PAP/EPA/CHRIS KLEPONIS / POOL
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President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. would “help” British soldiers if they were attacked by Russia when peacekeeping in Ukraine.

In a press conference on Thursday at the White House with the U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Trump said: “You know the British have incredible soldiers, incredible military and they can take care of themselves. But if they need help, I'll always be with the British, okay? … but they don't need help.”

Earlier this month, Starmer said he is “ready and willing” to put U.K. troops on the ground in Ukraine to help guarantee its security as part of a peace deal.

Trump and Starmer took reporters’ questions before talks that are expected to focus heavily on Ukraine.

The BBC reported that Starmer had told journalists on the plane to the U.S. that stopping Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine again after the Russian-Ukraine peace deal was struck depended on the U.S. providing security guarantees.
Reporters at the Oval Office asked several questions about the security guarantee that the U.S. would offer in the event of a peace deal with Russia.

Trump said he believed a minerals deal with Ukraine would operate as a “backstop.” It's a backstop, you could say. I don't think anybody's going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers and having to do with rare earths and other things which we need for our country,” he said.

On Friday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Trump in Washington, and a Ukraine minerals deal is due to be signed.

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