Despite all that, the Labour leader’s mind already appears to be made up that British personnel will be there in some role when the time comes. “I don’t want to get ahead of discussions about precise roles, but we will play our full part,” he said.
“Obviously there are many conversations [about] what that means. For me, what matters is that we bear in mind the principles: This has got to be enduring, it’s got to be effective and it’s got to be a deterrence because the worst of all worlds is a cessation of hostilities that isn’t enduring and simply leads to further Russian aggression in years to come.”
Treading carefully on trade
On the eve of the disruptor-in-chief’s second term in the White House, Starmer was careful to be diplomatic about the risks Trump poses to European security — and global trade. He said he’d spoken to Trump “a number of times” including over dinner in September.
“We spoke about Ukraine on the phone in the call we had before Christmas,” he said of Trump. “The U.S. has played a vital role here. We should pay tribute to that. We work with the U.S. on a daily basis as you’d expect and we will continue to do so. And I am absolutely sure that President-elect Trump is clear-eyed about the vital role of the U.S. in the resolution of this.”
On trade, Starmer said he wants talks to begin with Trump about a U.S.-U.K. agreement in the weeks ahead, and played down the threat of sweeping new American tariffs.
“We haven’t had the inauguration yet so let’s see what the decisions are when we get to that stage,” Starmer said. “But I have been clear that we would like to have discussions about a trade deal with the U.S.”
“We don’t accept the argument that there’s a binary choice between a reset with the EU and a deal with the U.S., and obviously the time for those decisions will be in the weeks and months to come,” he added.
Trump has threatened across-the-board tariffs of as much as 20 percent on all imports, with some trade experts suggesting the U.K. will need to distance itself from EU trade to escape punitive measures from the incoming U.S. president.