Starmer speaks with Trump after president's Ukraine ceasefire talks with Putin
The Prime Minister joined a call with Mr Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as other European leaders, after the US-Russia ceasefire talks, Downing Street said.
Mr Trump did not secure a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine after nearly three hours of talks with his Russian counterpart at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
After the negotiations, which took place alongside senior officials, the two presidents refused to answer questions from reporters.
However, both made statements, with Mr Trump saying 'some great progress' was made with 'many points' agreed and 'very few' remaining.
In a call after the summit, Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky spoke with the US president alongside leaders from Italy, France, Finland, Germany and Poland, as well as Nato's Mark Rutte, and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission.
Sir Keir is due to speak again with European leaders this morning.
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Telegraph
23 minutes ago
- Telegraph
With Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump has proven he can broker peace
For over three decades, my country Azerbaijan and our neighbour Armenia have been locked in one of the world's most intractable conflicts. The last 30 years have seen two major conflicts and many smaller skirmishes. During this time, consecutive rounds of peace talks have failed and failed again. But this month in Washington the stars aligned. Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed what the world thought was impossible: an agreement. This may not have happened had it not been for two factors: first, that Azerbaijan had already restored its sovereign borders after a generation when a fifth of its territory was under Armenian occupation and second, because Donald Trump was back in the White House. President Trump welcomed President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia at the White House where they signed a declaration witnessed by President Trump reiterating and reinforcing mutual, irreversible commitment to peace and normalisation, while the two country's foreign ministers initialled the text of the future peace agreement. Azerbaijan and the United States agreed to set up a working group to prepare a strategic partnership charter and ExxonMobil and Socar, Azerbaijan's State Oil Company, inked an MOU on exploration. Adding a great measure of symbolism, President Trump signed a waiver to the infamous Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which prohibited U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan, a sore point in bilateral Azerbaijan-U.S. relations since 1992 and a glaring example of a counterproductive, self-defeating piece of legislation driven by narrow special interests at the expense of wider U.S. objectives in the region. Another significant step was a joint letter signed by the two foreign ministers requesting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to abolish its long-defunct Minsk Group, a mediating body co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States, which has, over decades, firmly established its absolute inability to produce any progress towards peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The importance of this joint letter should not be underestimated as it clearly demonstrates that Azerbaijan and Armenia have left the post-Soviet nightmare of never-ending, externally driven conflict-management behind and are entering the era of normalcy. Moreover, the two nations have fully assumed responsibility for their bilateral relations, exactly as neighbours and sovereign states should. Azerbaijan has long insisted on ending the Minsk Group because that would reflect a commitment to a peaceful future for our region rather than entanglement in the legacy of past conflicts. In fact, as acknowledged by the Armenian leadership, it was Azerbaijan's restoration of its territorial integrity and ending the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani lands that allowed Armenia to assert its sovereignty more forcefully. And normalisation also brings growth and development, including through regional integration and communications. Moreover, it was Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who shortly after securing a decisive military success in 2020, proposed a roadmap for peace and normalisation. Over the last five years, the peace process slowly, with some setbacks and interruptions, progressed along the very road map Azerbaijan has suggested already in 2020. This is because over the three decades of conflict with Armenia, the international law was firmly on the side of Azerbaijan and because President Aliyev's vision is based on Azerbaijan's long-standing policy of regional development, shared prosperity and promoting sovereignty of nations in the region. Since early days of independence in 1990s, Azerbaijan has pursued a strategy of expanding partnership and making sure that the economic growth is not limited to Azerbaijan alone but includes partners such as Georgia and Central Asian nations across the Caspian. Today, such growth and path to prosperity can be shared by our neighbour Armenia because of normalisation. Nor is President Trump's support for peace in the Caucasus a new phenomenon. During Trump's first administration – I served as Azerbaijan's ambassador in Washington at the time – the U.S. Government pursued a pragmatic policy of ensuring prosperity in our region. I witnessed first-hand the hard work of the Trump administration in establishing the Abraham Accords and, having attended the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House in September of 2020, I saw President Trump's ability and desire to be a global peacemaker. In fact, this is precisely what President Aliyev recognised and praised openly in July of 2024 at the Shusha Media Forum in Azerbaijan. The United States had previously attempted to address the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, under the Clinton administration and more seriously under the George W. Bush administration with Secretary of State Colin Powell presiding over unsuccessful talks in Key West. While I can personally attest to the beautiful setting of Florida Keys as someone present at that time, the premise of the U.S. approach was neither productive, nor sustainable. More recently, the clumsy attempts of the Biden Administration to push through a rushed success driven by special interest groups and ideological narrative predictably backfired causing major damage to U.S. interests in the wider Caspian region. This is why, Trump's approach based on a clear focus on a lasting peace, economic development and genuine interests of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the United States, is welcome and supported by President Aliyev, whose own strategy is based on a similar vision. In Washington, President Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan and Armenia are closing the page of enmity and confrontation and choosing a lasting peace. President Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to advance President Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to the most important part, the peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, such a nomination would have another symbolic connection to our region since it has historically been, at least partially funded by the money the Nobel brothers made from the oil business in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. This is the time to look forward to a prosperous, peaceful future for our region and not listen to the usual naysayers. After all, they too benefit from peace and inclusive economic development.
Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Shock new poll reveals why Aussies see Donald Trump as a bigger threat than 'communist dictator' Xi Jinping
Australians are more afraid of Donald Trump 's tariffs than the increasing Chinese military threat in the Pacific, according to a shocking new poll. The Newspoll, conducted between Monday and Thursday last week, revealed far greater concern among voters about the US President's unpredictable trade penalties than there was about Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping 's westward push. When the two issued were posed to 1283 Australians, 42 per cent of voters said US tariffs were more of a concern, while just 37 per cent stated Beijing 's military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region was the more pressing issue. Voters who were neutral on the two global issues stood at 21 per cent, the poll published in The Australian revealed. However, the polling analysis also showed a partisan effect was at play, with Labor and the Greens viewing Trump's tariffs as the bigger threat, while Coalition and minor party voters saw China as the more dangerous issue. Trumps tariffs triggered 55 per cent of Labor voters and 60 per cent of Greens voters, but just 29 per cent of Coalition and minor party voters. On the other hand, China's military muscle moved 50 per cent of Coalition supporters and 49 per cent of minor party supporters, but just 26 per cent and 22 per cent of Labor and Greens voters respectively. The poll also revealed that, for the first time since September 2023, more Australians are satisfied with Anthony Albanese's performance than not. The primary votes of the Coalition and One Nation improved by one point to 30 and nine per cent, respectively, since last month's first post-election Newspoll. Labor remained at 36 per cent and holds a two-party-preferred vote over the Coalition at 56 to 44 per cent. The Prime Minister's personal popularity has returned to levels not seen since the cost-of-living crisis and voice referendum led to a slump in his approval ratings. Albanese now has a net approval rating of plus-three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with the Labor leader's performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. He has not been in positive territory since September 2023, when he recorded 47 per cent and 44 per cent satisfaction and dissatisfaction ratings. The Prime Minister's current rating is the highest it's been since July 2023, when 52 per cent of voters rated his performance positively. Sussan Ley, who took over as leader of the Coalition following Peter Dutton's departure, has since her performance ratings drop since last month's poll. She had a net approval rating of minus-seven last month, similar to Dutton's levels following the 2022 election. However, Ley has seen the gap widen to minus-nine. After the election, the Coalition experienced its worst result for the Liberal/Nationals parties since Newspoll first compared primary vote levels in November 1985. The first post-election poll had Labor at 36 per cent compared with the Coalition's 29 per cent. Labor won the May 3 election after securing 34.6 per cent of the primary vote. Support for the opposition remains below the 31.8 per cent primary vote won by the Coalition in May. Pauline Hanson's One Nation rose a point to nine per cent while the Greens remained steady at 12 per cent. Others, including independents and minor parties, fell from 15 to 13 per cent.
Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Vladimir Putin's surprising lunch menu for meeting with Donald Trump is revealed - despite never getting a chance to eat it after cutting talks short
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were due to dine on halibut and steak in Alaska before their lunch was cancelled, sensitive documents revealed today. The US President and Russian leader held crunch talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on Friday and were expected to eat together. The menu - revealed among papers relating to the summit found in a hotel printer - shows they would have had a starter of 'green salad with champagne vinaigrette'. The main course was a 'duet of filet mignon with brady peppercorn sauce and halibut Olympia served with buttery whipped potatoes and roasted asparagus'. But the summit ended early and the lunch at the US military base - which would have concluded with a dessert of 'crème brûlée' - never took place. The document found at Hotel Captain Cook also stated that the meal was 'in honour of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation'. Halibut Olympia is a local dish where halibut fillets are smothered in a creamy sauce then topped with buttery breadcrumbs on top of a base of caramelised onions. Sensitive documents revealed Mr Trump and Mr Putin were due to dine on halibut and steak Jeremy Pataky, an editor of Edible Alaska magazine, told the New York Times: 'It has the vibe of being homey and comforting and mildly retro, but palatable. 'I would not characterise it as haute cuisine. To see that on the menu for an extremely high-level state dinner felt a bit surprising.' He added: 'In our culinary Venn diagram of what's possible to harvest at sea between Alaska and Russia, I mean certainly we have halibut, so there's that.' President Trump's chief of protocol has been facing questions after the menu was among sensitive documents relating to the Russia-US summit that were discovered. Monica Crowley, who was in charge of creating the programme for Russian leader Vladimir Putin's visit, was left red-faced after eight pages including precise locations, meeting times and private phone numbers of government employees were found. The documents also told US officials how to pronounce their Russian counterparts' names, including, 'Mr President POO-tihn'. Hotel Captain Cook is 20 minutes from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the historic meeting took place. The documents told US officials how to pronounce names, including, 'Mr President POO-tihn' Ms Crowley, 56, is a former Fox news presenter who is said to be 'extremely close' to Mr Trump and his wife Melania. She was photographed on Friday warmly greeting President Putin when he arrived at the military base and again at the airport as he prepared to fly home to Russia. The documents were given to US public broadcaster NPR which has seen its funding slashed by Mr Trump. The broadcaster claimed the papers were found in a printer on Friday morning by three hotel guests. Jon Michaels, a professor of law at UCLA and national security expert, said that the documents revealed 'a lapse in professional judgement'. He said: 'It strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration. You just don't leave things in printers. It's that simple.' But White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the papers as 'a multi-page lunch menu' and claimed that no security breach had occurred. She told the Daily Mail: 'It's hilarious that NPR is publishing a multi-page lunch menu and calling it a 'security breach'. 'This type of self-proclaimed 'investigative journalism' is why no one takes them seriously and they are no longer taxpayer-funded thanks to President Trump.'
