British Prime Minister Keir Starmer used a visit to Washington on Thursday to press President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor. With a mix of flattery and frank talk, the center-left Starmer made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The British premier started the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honor since Trump already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term. “You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal — a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump. “That is the prize. But we have to get it right.” Trump said that talks to end the grinding war are “very well advanced” but also cautioned that there is only a narrow window to get a deal done. “If it doesn’t happen quickly, it may not happen at all,” Trump warned. Starmer’s visit came after French President Emmanuel Macron was in Washington earlier this week to make a similar case to Trump, and a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit the White House. The British leader leaned into the idea that Trump was the glue to maintaining the peace in Ukraine should the three-year war end. The press by Starmer and Macron this week reflects the mounting concern felt by much of Europe that Trump’s aggressive push to find an end to the war signals his willingness to concede too much to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some of Trump’s comments during Starmer’s visit may only add to Europe’s anxiety. The American leader expressed confidence that Putin won’t press to restart the war if a truce can be reached. “I think he’ll keep his word,” Trump said of Putin. “I’ve spoken to him, I’ve known him for a long time now, we had to go through the Russian hoax together.” The mention of “Russia hoax” is a reference to the FBI and Justice Department special counsel investigation that examined whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the U.S. election. Special counsel Robert Mueller found that although the Trump campaign welcomed Russia’s help in the form of the release of hacked emails stolen from Democrats, there was insufficient evidence to prove that the campaign had colluded with Moscow. Trump’s rapprochement with Russia has unsettled America’s historic allies in Europe. They have found themselves on their heels with Trump returning to the White House with a determination to dramatically make over U.S. foreign policy to correspond with his “America First” world view. The Trump administration held talks last week with Russia without Ukrainian or other European allies represented. And this week, the U.S. refused to sign on to resolutions at the United Nations blaming Russia for the war. The drifting White House view of Ukraine under Trump is leading to a tectonic shift in transatlantic relations. Starmer applauded Trump’s push to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also urged that “it can’t […]