Russia vs Ukraine: Macron, Starmer to meet Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer will travel to Washington, United States next week amid alarm in Europe over US President Donald Trump’s hardening stance towards Ukraine and overtures to Moscow on the three-year conflict.

The two European countries’ leaders in the meeting with Trump are expected to convince him to refrain from rushing into a ceasefire deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin at any cost.

Macron has said that agreeing to a bad deal that would amount to a capitulation of Ukraine would signal weakness to the United States’ enemies, including China and Iran.

He had said in an hour-long question and answer session on social media ahead of Monday’s visit to the White House that he would tell Trump that he cannot be weak.

“I will tell him: deep down you cannot be weak in the face of President (Putin). It’s not you, it’s not what you’re made of and it’s not in your interests,” he said.

The visits come amid a rift between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom Trump described as a dictator.

This has alarmed Kyiv’s European allies, already reeling from a more aggressive US posture on trade, diplomacy and even domestic European politics.