LONDON: Keir Starmer had little foreign policy experience before becoming UK premier, but is now enjoying a moment as an international statesman, spearheading efforts to bridge differences between Europe and America over Russia's war in Ukraine.
As Britain steps up to play a leadership role post-Brexit, the Labour prime minister has been widely praised for his deft handling of the situation.
During a blitz of meetings, Starmer has walked a tightrope between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and put the UK firmly back in the international diplomacy game, analysts said.
On Sunday, Starmer hosted a summit of European leaders in London, revealing they were drawing up a four-point plan to secure a sustainable peace in Ukraine, including through a “coalition of the willing” prepared to protect any ceasefire.
“In many ways I’m a little bit surprised at how naturally he’s stepped into the role, especially given he hasn’t had lots of experience of foreign policy,“ said Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy group think-tank.
“But he’s a very experienced lawyer, he’s a very smart man and he’s shown in the last few days that he really can step up on the world stage and he can deal with challenging characters.”
Starmer rallied 18 leaders from Europe, Canada and Turkey who gave a warm welcome to Zelensky following his public dressing down by Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance in the Oval Office on Friday.
The four steps the premier announced afterwards are arguably the most concrete intentions for Ukraine yet written down since Trump stunned US allies last month by opening unilateral talks with Russia to end the three-year-old war.
“Post-Brexit we’ve really struggled to find our identity,“ added Aspinall.
“We are never going to be the big world power that we once were. But actually, this is a sign of us finding our feet and finding where we potentially could lead,“ she told AFP.
Starmer had himself enjoyed a friendly meeting at the White House with Trump on Thursday that had No. 10 officials beaming with glee on the plane back to London, while Starmer even gave travelling reporters a thumbs up as he thanked them for coming.
But just hours later he sprung into action as a mediator between Trump and Zelensky, warmly embracing the Ukrainian leader at Downing Street on Saturday and twice speaking to his US counterpart on the phone over the weekend.
“(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 told the BBC.
