Turnberry (United Kingdom) (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press Donald Trump on ending “the unspeakable suffering” in Gaza, and also talk trade, when they meet Monday at the US president’s golf resort in Scotland, Downing Street said. The talks will come a day after the US and the European Union reached a landmark deal to end a transatlantic standoff over tariffs and avert a full-blown trade war. Starmer is expected to push Trump on urging a revival of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as a hunger crisis deepens in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The meeting at Turnberry, southwestern Scotland, comes as European countries express growing alarm at the situation in Gaza, and as Starmer faces domestic pressure to follow France’s lead and recognise a Palestinian state. The leaders will also discuss implementing a recent UK-US trade deal, as well as efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to a British government statement issued late Sunday. But it is the growing threat of starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza that is set to dominate the talks, on the third full day of Trump’s trip to the land where his mother was born. Starmer is expected to “welcome the president’s administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Trump told reporters Sunday that the United States would give more aid to Gaza but he wanted other countries to step up as well. “It’s not a US problem. It’s an international problem,” he said, before embarking on crunch trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the resort south of Glasgow. He also accused Hamas of intercepting aid, saying “they’re stealing the food, they’re stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it.” Starmer and Trump’s meeting comes after the UK PM backed efforts by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to air drop aid to Gaza. Humanitarian chiefs remain sceptical those aid drops can deliver enough food safely for the area’s more than two million inhabitants.
On Sunday, Israel declared a “tactical pause” in fighting in parts of Gaza and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle the hunger crisis. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community on Monday to fight against hunger around the world. “Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” he told a UN conference.
Last week, the United States and Israel withdrew from Gaza truce talks, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of blocking a deal — a claim rejected by the Palestinian militant group. Starmer held talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, after which the UK government said they agreed “it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace.” But the Downing Street statement made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his country will recognise in September.
More than 220 MPs in Britain’s 650-seat parliament, including dozens from Starmer’s own ruling Labour party, have demanded that he too recognise Palestinian statehood. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told ITV on Monday that “every Labour MP was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state” and that it was “a case of when, not if.” Number 10 said Starmer and Trump would also discuss “progress on implementing the UK-US trade deal,” which was signed on May 8 and lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force.
Trump said Sunday the agreement was “great” for both sides but Reynolds told BBC Breakfast on Monday that “it wasn’t job done” and cautioned not to expect any announcement of a resolution on issues such as steel and aluminium tariffs. After their meeting, the two leaders will travel together to Aberdeen in Scotland’s northeast, where the US president is expected to formally open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on his five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy, and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
© 2024 AFP
