Before embarking on his first visit to the White House since Donald Trump returned to power, French president Emmanuel Macron huddled with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and came up with a common position: the Europeans were willing to put tens of thousands of their own troops in Ukraine after a truce is struck with Russia.

“Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They get their money back.” “Now, in fact to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 percent of the total defaults, and it was like the U.S. — loans, guarantee grants — and we provided real money, to be clear.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting the White House on Thursday to try to convince President Donald Trump that a lasting peace in Ukraine will endure only if Kyiv and European leaders are at the table as negotiations move forward with Moscow.