Vladimir Putin warned “Western elites” not to undercut US-Russia talks on Ukraine hours before a crunch meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump on Thursday.
Starmer had come under pressure to shore up American support for a security “backstop” in Ukraine after a potential end to the war – and after the talks, Trump sounded coy – but earlier, the Russian President weighed in with a veiled threat.
The US and Russia have already held talks on peace in Ukraine – and Putin has sowed the seeds of doubt over Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron’s trips to Washington DC.
“The first contacts with the new US administration give some hope,” the Russian premier said. “There is a mutual desire to work on restoring relations.”
The Russian President warned that Moscow would use its diplomats and intelligence services to stop any Western ‘sabotage’
REUTERS
But he warned that “some Western elites will try to undermine our dialogue” between Russia and the US – and vowed that Moscow would use its diplomats and intelligence services to thwart any such attempts.
The leaders’ first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s return to power has been billed as a major test for Starmer’s diplomacy.
And at a press conference after the pair’s talks, the US President heaped praise on Starmer – not least after he was presented with an invitation for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
LATEST ON VLADIMIR PUTIN:
Trump said diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire were ‘moving along pretty rapidly’
REUTERS
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to DC on Friday to sign a landmark minerals deal – which could lay the groundwork for an end to Russia’s three-year war.
Trump said on Thursday that the minerals deal would be the security guarantee Kyiv needs against Russia, brushing aside a plea from Starmer for a commitment of more US military support.
Starmer also heaped praise on the President, saying that peace in Ukraine had only become possible because of Trump.
But the PM also argued that there could be no long-term peace without firm American security guarantees – an argument Trump all but dismissed.
Zelensky will travel to DC on Friday to sign a landmark minerals deal
REUTERS
“We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working,” as a result of the minerals deal, Trump said. “We’re going to have a lot of people over there.”
He added that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire were “moving along pretty rapidly” – and expressed his optimism that Putin would keep his end of any bargain. “It will either be fairly soon or it won’t be at all.”
While Starmer added: “We have to get it right… It can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor.”