Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with US President Donald Trump today, as the pair hold a joint press conference.
Starmer is expected to push a reluctant Donald Trump to provide a US “backstop” to prevent Vladimir Putin launching a fresh assault on Ukraine after any peace deal.
The US President said he would not provide security guarantees “beyond very much”, insisting it was for Europeans to protect Ukraine.
When is the press conference and how can I watch?
The press conference is scheduled to take place in at around 7pm UK time, following a lunch between the Prime Minister and the president.
Major broadcasters, such as the BBC and Sky News are likely to show the conference for anyone wishing to watch.
What has Starmer said about Trump?
Ahead of his talks at the White House on Thursday, Starmer said Trump can be trusted and understands that Russian President Putin started the war in Ukraine.
The US president has said Volodymyr Zelensky will visit him on Friday to sign an economic deal that will include US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals.
But the Ukrainian President earlier said that the framework agreement did not yet include the US security guarantees that Kyiv sees as vital.
Zelenskyy is expected to come to the UK at the weekend.
Trump, who has launched efforts with Russia to find a quick peace deal to end the conflict, has called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and suggested he was to blame for starting the war.
But Starmer said it was clear that Russian president Putin was “the aggressor” – and that there were “no issues” with Trump on that.
He told reporters travelling with him to Washington: “They are the aggressor. They have invaded and occupied a sovereign country in Europe, and they bear full responsibility for the conflict.”
Asked if Trump knew that, the Prime Minister said: “Of course, the president has been very clear about the peace that he wants. He’s right about that. We all want peace.
“The question is, how do we make sure it’s a lasting peace. There’s no issue between us on this.”
Setting out his call for US commitments to Ukraine after a peace deal, Starmer said: “The reason I say the backstop is so important is that the security guarantee has to be sufficient to deter Putin from coming again.”
Asked whether he could trust Trump following the events of recent weeks, Starmer said: “Yes, I’ve got a good relationship with him.
“I’ve met him, I’ve spoken to him on the phone and this relationship between our two countries is a special relationship with a long history, forged as we fought wars together, as we traded together.
“I want it to go from strength to strength.”
While Starmer was flying to Washington, the US president said: “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that, because we’re talking about Europe as the next-door neighbour.”
