'Keir Starmer's bid to bridge divide between Donald Trump and Europe is being tested'

Keir Starmer returned home buoyed by a positive meeting with Donald Trump but hours later Ukraine peace talks were hanging in the balance after ugly scenes in the Oval Office

"Happy" was Keir Starmer's one-word verdict on his White House visit.

The Prime Minister grinned and gave a thumbs up to the travelling press pack as he jetted out of Washington. But hours later, fragile hopes of progress on peace talks in Ukraine were smashed to smithereens.

Warm words in the Oval Office were replaced by ugly scenes as Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Trump angrily told the Ukrainian leader he "didn't have the cards" to defeat Russia without the United States, adding: "You either make a deal, or we're out."

He then turfed Mr Zelensky out of the White House, cancelling a planned press conference, and put out a statement saying he "disrespected" the USA in the meeting. "He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

This was Trump the bully on show.

Months of careful diplomacy and flattery from senior UK figures helped Mr Starmer to get a warm reception from the US President. But he was not able to persuade Mr Trump to commit to underwrite a peace deal with US firepower.

And tonight, the scale of that challenge was laid bare as the thin-skinned President took umbrage at Mr Zelensky who he said needed to be more grateful to the US.

The view on the British side is that the PM and the President genuinely get on. The PM will be hoping that he can act as a bridge between Mr Trump and Europe, bringing him back from the arms of Vladimir Putin.

But pressure was on Downing Street last night to make clear the UK's support for Ukraine at this critical juncture as European leaders lined up to show their backing for Kyiv.

Meanwhile Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, tweeted: "The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office. And Donald Trump is right: The Kiev regime is 'gambling with WWIII'".

Mr Starmer's claim that the UK doesn't need to pick sides between the US and Europe is being sorely tested by the unpredictable President.

A summit of European leaders in London on Sunday now looks more crucial than ever.