Trump says he trusts Putin as Starmer pushes Ukraine guarantees

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said he trusted Russia´s Vladimir Putin to stick to any Ukraine ceasefire on Thursday, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to win security guarantees for Kyiv -- with the help of a royal invitation to visit Britain.

Trump struck a friendly tone as he and Starmer met in Washington, and even walked back a comment about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being a dictator that alarmed European capitals, saying: “Did I say that?”

But Trump also insisted that he trusted Putin to honour any truce with Ukraine, contradicting Starmer´s warnings that a lack of a US “backstop” for a deal would encourage Putin to stage a repeat of his February 2022 invasion.

Britain and France have both offered to deploy peacekeeping troops for Ukraine but want US guarantees of help, including aerial and satellite surveillance and possible air power. “I think he´ll keep his word,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Starmer in the Oval Office when asked about Putin.

“I spoke to him, I´ve known him for a long time now, I don´t believe he´s going to violate his word.” Trump added that Britain can “take care of themselves, but if they need help, I´ll always be with the British.”