Trump made the comments at the start of a White House meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer where the Starmer was expected to make his case to the Republican president that American leadership would be critical to maintain the peace in Ukraine should the three-year war end.
“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.
The investigation found that to be untrue.
Starmer's trip, coming a few days after French President Emmanuel Macron's own visit to Trump.
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.
His administration is pushing back on the notion that Trump is ignoring Europe or is too eager in his push for settlement talks with Putin.
“He hasn’t conceded anything to anyone,” Vice President JD Vance said. “He’s doing the job of a diplomat.”
At a White House meeting Friday, Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy are expected to sign off on an agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's critical minerals, which are used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries.
