Starmer and Trump agree need to ‘keep up collective pressure on Putin’

Sir Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump have agreed on the need to “keep up the collective pressure on Putin” during a phone call, Downing Street said.

The Sunday night call came after Mr Trump said he was “angry, pissed off” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for questioning the credibility of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Prime Minister updated the US leader on the latest meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing when they spoke, according to Downing Street.

“Discussing Ukraine, the Prime Minister updated the President on the productive discussions at the meeting of the coalition of willing in Paris this week,” a No 10 spokesperson said.

They added: “The leaders agreed on the need to keep up the collective pressure on Putin.”

Russian drone attacks have continued in Ukraine, with strikes taking place on a military hospital, shopping centre and apartment blocks in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, killing two people and wounding more.

In an interview with NBC News, Mr Trump criticised the Russian president for “getting into Zelensky’s credibility”.

The US leader suggested he was considering putting “secondary sanctions” on Russian oil, after Mr Putin continued to claim that Ukraine’s president lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal.

Mr Zelensky’s presidential term expired last year but Ukraine cannot hold elections at the moment under its constitution, as martial law has been declared while it is at war with Russia.

Western allies fear that if it did hold a national poll, this would be at risk of interference by the Kremlin.

Mr Trump previously suggested he was open to relaxing US sanctions on Russia as part of the progression in peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.

His open criticism appears to show a change in attitude towards his Russian counterpart, though the US president has insisted they still have a “very good relationship”.

Later on Sunday night, Mr Trump warned Mr Zelensky against backing out of a mineral deal with the US, telling reporters aboard Air Force One: “If he does that, he’s got some problems. Big, big problems.”

Referring to an agreement that would provide the US with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, Mr Trump said: “He’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal.

“We made a deal on rare earth. And now he’s saying, ‘well you know, I want to renegotiate the deal’.”

Mr Zelensky has accused the US of “constantly changing” the deal, which is linked to military aid.

Downing Street said Mr Trump and Sir Keir also discussed plans for a UK-US economic deal, and the US president passed on his best wishes to the King, who recently spent a brief time in hospital this week after experiencing temporary side effects from his cancer treatment.