U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the U.S.-led peace efforts in Ukraine and Gaza in a pre-Christmas call on Dec. 21.
According to the prime minister’s office, the two allied leaders discussed efforts by nations that have called themselves the “Coalition of the Willing” to support any peace deal that ensures a “just and lasting end” to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Turning to the Middle East, the leaders discussed the situation on the ground in Gaza,” it added.
Starmer and Trump also discussed the appointment of the new British Ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner. He replaces Lord Peter Mandelson, who was removed over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister said that Turner’s appointment, as an experienced senior diplomat, would “further deepen the relationship between the two countries.”
The leaders also wished each other a Merry Christmas.
Ukraine-Russia Talks
U.S. negotiators in Miami, Florida, met Ukrainian and European officials on Friday, and Russian officials on Saturday, for the latest talks aimed at ending the conflict, as Trump’s administration tries to coax an agreement out of both sides.
U.S. Special Envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff said in a post on Dec. 21 that over the last two days, “the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings with the American delegation to advance President Trump’s peace plan on Ukraine.”
“Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security,” he said.
In an earlier post, Witkoff said that “Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,” and that their talks focused on “discussing timelines and the sequencing of next steps.”
“Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity,” he said.
‘False Narrative’ on Russia
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard criticized “warmongers” and the media over what she said was propaganda being promoted to “support escalation of war.”
In a post to X on Sunday, she linked a Reuters article that cited six anonymous sources “familiar with U.S. intelligence,” who allegedly told Reuters that U.S. intelligence reports “continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire.”
“No, this is a lie and propaganda,” Gabbard said. “Reuters is willingly pushing on behalf of warmongers who want to undermine President Trump’s tireless efforts to end this bloody war that has resulted in more than a million casualties on both sides.”
She then said that the actual U.S. intel community assessment being given to lawmakers is that “Russia seeks to avoid a larger war with NATO” because “Russia’s battlefield performance indicates it does not currently have the capability to conquer and occupy all of Ukraine, let alone Europe.”
She said this was the briefing given to “the Democrat [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] member quoted by Reuters,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who allegedly said otherwise.
“Dangerously, you are promoting this false narrative to block President Trump’s peace effort, and fomenting hysteria and fear among the people to get them to support the escalation of war, which is what NATO and the EU really want in order to pull the U.S. military directly into war with Russia,” Gabbard said of the article, which claimed that U.S. intelligence assessments of Russia’s intentions were “similar to those shared by British and other European security services.”
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