Russia-Ukraine: 'What the F is a land swap?!'
Starmer has flown to Washington with other European leaders, all scrambling to talk Trump out of what looks like a pretty awful Ukraine deal after his talks with Putin in Alaska.
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In brief:
- Keir Starmer and other European leaders have made emergency trips to meet with President Trump after his talks with Putin in Alaska, where Trump appeared to move closer to Russia's position by stating Ukraine will never get Crimea back or join NATO.
- Starmer faces a dilemma because Ukraine has been fighting Russia "on Europe's behalf," keeping Russian aggression contained. A bad peace deal that gives Russia control of Ukrainian territory could lead to future invasions and potentially threaten European security directly.
- The News Agents express doubt that European pressure will change Trump's mind, noting he wants "peace at almost any cost" and that proposed "land swaps" are really just Ukraine giving up territory to Russia with questionable security guarantees in return.
What’s the story?
Keir Starmer has dropped his summer plans and hopped on an flight to Washington DC, joining other European leaders in a meeting with President Trump, in an attempt to finally find a way to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Starmer’s said he wants to make sure the war, which is in its fourth year, ends in a way that is “fair and just”, but with everything Donald Trump has said on Truth Social in the past 24 hours, it’s increasingly difficult to see how that outcome is possible.
Trump’s talks with Vladimir Putin in Alaska appear to have scored significant wins for the Russian president. While Trump went in talking about a ceasefire and significant sanctions for Russia, he came out ever closer to Putin’s position.
Following the meeting,Trump posted on Truth Social, the social media network he owns, that Ukraine needs to forget about ever getting Crimea back and will never join NATO.
“Those are two of the key negotiating positions that Putin has had all along, already, apparently ceded before these discussions have even begun,” Lewis Goodall says on The News Agents.
“More and more of Vladimir Putin's talking points are now official US policy,” Jon Sopel says.
“You can see why all those European leaders decided: ‘Shit, I better get on a plane’.”
What is Starmer’s position likely to be?
It’s in Keir Starmer’s interest for talks at the White House to go in Ukraine’s favour - not just for Ukraine’s sake, but for the UK.
“Ukraine has been fighting this war not just on their behalf, but on our behalf,” Lewis says.
“That’s one of the reasons we have tried to arm them. It hasn't been out of the goodness of our hearts, sure, there's been some solidarity there, but it's been about our strategic interest.” In fighting Russia, Ukraine has been keeping Russian aggression tied to its own country.
Lewis says that Ukraine has been doing the UK’s “dirty work” for a long time.
“The truth is - and this is a really hard thing to say - it is probably in Europe's strategic interest for Ukraine to continue to fight this war, basically for us, rather than there to be a bad peace deal,” Lewis adds.
A bad peace deal could see Russia take control of Donetsk, which Lewis refers to as ‘the frontline of Europe’. If this happens, Putin will have a pathway to a new invasion of Ukraine in the near future, and eventually, could decide to test European resolve and defenses elsewhere.
A bad peace deal would therefore be “potentially catastrophic” not just for Ukraine, but also for the UK.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
Jon refers to Trump and Putin’s meeting as the “Alaska turning point”, sending European leaders into a frenzy.
By denying Ukraine any future within NATO, Trump’s position is at complete odds with Starmer’s, who says he stands by his commitment to Ukraine to retain an irreversible path to joining NATO.
But Jon’s not confident that the European leaders’ time in Washington will have much influence in changing the President’s mind.
“Do I think that Trump will cede ground under pressure? I find it very hard to believe, because he'll look weak,” he says.
“Trump wants peace, but he wants peace at almost any cost,” Lewis says, even if the cost is a bad deal for Zelensky.
The Trump camp have said that deal could include a ‘land swap’, a phrase that irks Jon.
“What the F is a land swap?” he says.
“It is Russia taking control of Ukrainian land. There is no swapping going on whatsoever. Russia is taking. Ukraine is giving. Can we stop using this phrase?”
“It's not that Russia is going to give Ukraine any land. It's a one way swap. It's a concession.”