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Sir Keir Starmer faced his first Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 5 March, since his visit to the United States and the explosive meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
It comes after the US president criticised European leaders, including the British prime minister, on Monday, deriding their weekend talks over Ukraine and launching a furious new attack on the Ukrainian president for saying a peace deal is still “very, very far away”.
Mr Trump fired off a tirade just as the PM was on his feet in the House of Commons insisting the US was vital, sincere and indispensable in the path to peace.
Sir Keir has dismissed calls from MPs for Britain to shun Mr Trump and America after last week’s extraordinary ambush on Mr Zelensky in the White House Oval Office.
The US president and JD Vance shouted over Mr Zelensky as a critical meeting on Ukraine erupted into a shouting match.
The meeting appeared to go south when the US vice president accused the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful” when Mr Zelensky said US security guarantees are necessary for a ceasefire.
Mr Trump talked over Mr Zelensky repeatedly, warning him he is “not in a good position” as Mr Zelensky looked visibly irritated.
The Republican has since said he received a letter from Mr Zelensky praising his “strong leadership.”
The US president boasted in an address to Congress that he “appreciated” Mr Zelensky sending the letter, which expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table and end the war as soon as possible.
There was no direct mention of a rare earth minerals deal in Mr Trump’s speech, although he quoted Mr Zelensky’s letter as saying Ukraine was ready to sign.
