The statement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a summit of European leaders, just two days after a heated exchange with US President Donald Trump at the White House, the BBC reported.
Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Starmer described his role as a "bridge" between Trump and Zelensky. When asked about his reaction to the confrontation in Washington, he downplayed the incident, stating, "Nobody wants to see that" and acknowledged that he felt "uncomfortable."
Starmer said his immediate response was to contact both leaders the same night in an effort to refocus on resolving the conflict. "There are a number of different routes people can go down. One is to ramp up the rhetoric as to how outraged we all are or not," he said.
Instead, he chose to "roll up my sleeves" and speak with Trump, Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron to coordinate Europe's role in the process. "Because my reaction was we have to bridge this, we have to find a way that we can all work together because in the end we've had three years of bloody conflict now, we need to get to that lasting peace," Starmer said.
The UK prime minister also dismissed calls from Scottish First Minister John Swinney to cancel Trump’s planned second state visit to the UK. "I'm not going to be diverted by the SNP or others trying to ramp up the rhetoric without really appreciating what is the single most important thing at stake here – we're talking about peace in Europe," he said.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey supported the visit, arguing that it could be used to push for stronger commitments to Ukraine. "I think we should use every single card that we have, and I think it should be made clear to the White House that the state visit would be a genuine one, we would welcome him here, but on condition that he steps up – that the U.S. steps up to work with the UK and Europe to support and defend Ukraine," Davey said.
Starmer avoided assigning blame for the dispute between Trump and Zelensky and was confident that Trump "wants a lasting peace," answering "yes" when asked if he believed Trump could be trusted. He said he also trusted Zelensky but not Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing the need for a US security guarantee in any peace agreement.
He acknowledged that European security commitments would require cooperation among willing nations. "Europeans have stood up in the last three years," he said, but added that "generally, Europe needs to do more in its own defence and security."
