Turnberry (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Donald Trump said a ceasefire in Gaza was “possible,” and stepped up warnings to Russia as he met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at one of the US president’s Scottish golf resorts on Monday. Trump made the comments as he greeted Starmer and his wife Victoria at Turnberry, south of Glasgow, where he has spent two days playing golf.
The US leader said he would “reduce” a 50-day ultimatum that he has set Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, as he took questions from reporters before his talks with the British leader. “I’m disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him. So we’re going to have to look and I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number,” Trump said.
Downing Street said Starmer would press Trump on ending “the unspeakable suffering” in Gaza and urge a revival of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as a hunger crisis deepens in the besieged Palestinian territory. Asked whether he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump said: “I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry.”
The meeting on Trump’s third full day in Scotland came after the United States and the European Union reached a landmark deal to avert a full-blown trade war over tariffs. Starmer and Trump were to discuss implementing a recent UK-US trade deal. But Gaza was expected to be the focus as European countries express growing alarm over events. Starmer also faces domestic pressure to follow France’s lead and recognise a Palestinian state.
Trump said Sunday the United States would give more aid to Gaza but he wanted other countries to step up. “It’s not a US problem. It’s an international problem,” he said, before embarking on trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. He 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.”
Truckloads of food reached hungry Gazans on Monday after Israel promised to open secure aid routes and declared a “tactical pause” in fighting in parts of the territory. But humanitarian agencies warned vast amounts more were needed to counter starvation. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged international action against hunger. “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 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.”
The UK-US trade deal 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 the BBC 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 to Aberdeen in Scotland’s northeast, where the US president is to open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on a five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
© 2024 AFP
