Washington, 20 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump will welcome British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the White House next week.

Starmer will therefore become the first head of government from a European country to be welcomed to Washington by Trump in his second term of office. However, an exact date has not yet been announced by either side.

"Next week, the prime minister of the UK will be here at the White House," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday.

Tensions between Trump and Europe are high after the president spoke unilaterally by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin - seen as a pariah by much of the West - over trying to end the war in Ukraine.

He then sent his Secretary of State Marco Rubio to a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, where Ukraine was again discussed without any Ukrainian or European input.

"We're ensuring that all parties are heard, but you have to speak to both sides of the war in order to truly negotiate a deal and problem solve and this is a significant first step towards peace," Leavitt added.

Starmer headed to Paris on Monday for emergency European talks on the Ukraine situation.

He has said the UK is prepared to participate in a possible international peacekeeping force in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire to the three-year long war launched by Putin.

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