“On a tight rope”: Britain is trying to fill a gap across the Atlantic Ocean

Five years after leaving the European Union, Britain may have recently found a new role on the world stage – an disturbing his old role.

In the few feverish weeks since President Trump Lifting the alliance across the Atlantic Through his initiatives to Russia and calm with Ukraine, British Prime Minister Kiir Starmer tried to work as a bridge between Europe and the United States.

Mr. Starmer and his highest aides Advice President Vodimir Zelinski from Ukraine In phone calls and meetings face to face on how to fix fences with Mr. Trump after his roaming meeting at the White House. The Prime Minister pressed the American President to ensure security guarantees to deter President Vladimir F. Putin is from Russia from the future aggression.

In his high diplomacy, Mr. Starmer revives a role that Britain played routinely before Britain left the European Union. It carries a comparison with Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the Labor Party, who tried to mediate between President George W. Bush and European leaders in the period before the Iraq war in 2003.

The construction of Mr. Blair’s bridge has not ended well, of course: France and Germany refused to join the “Mr. Bush coalition” against Iraq and Britain Alignment the step lock With the United States, it stumbled on its relations with its European neighbors.

Now, as Mr. Starmer combines together.Al -Raghiba Alliance“To protect Ukraine, he faces a difficult budget act. It is committed near the United States while trying to create a massive European military deterrent enough to persuade Mr. Trump to provide the American air cover and support intelligence for the peacekeeping forces.

On Saturday, Mr. Starmer will hold a virtual meeting of up to 25 leaders, from Europe, NATO, Canada, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand, to mobilize the support of his alliance, which leads Britain with France. It is expected that additional countries will provide forces or logistical support for the coalition, which was designed to be a shield against Russia after a peace settlement with Ukraine.

After talking to the leaders through the video conference, Mr. Starmer is likely to continue his campaign to pressure Mr. Trump to ensure security – an effort to share with him President Emmanuel Macron From France.

Whether Mr. Starmer and Mr. Macron will succeed anyone, given that Mr. Trump has deviated between the bitter Ukraine isolation And threats to impose sanctions on rebel Russia. Mr. Putin’s reaction was cautious with a 30 -day truce presented by Ukraine and the United States this week, with a refusal to talk about the European peacekeeping force.

“Of course there is a danger,” said Peter Ricks, a British diplomat, a national security adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron. “But I believe that Starmer sees a greater danger than a catastrophic disaster.”

He said that Mr. Blair failed as a bridge because the divisions between European countries on Iraq were not overcome. Mr. Starmer’s challenge is a wrong American president, who appears to be determined to reset relations with Russia and is publicly hostile to the European Union.

“A curtain will do his best for not having to choose between Europe and the United States,” said Mr. Rikits. He added: “Dealing with Mr. Trump:” makes him vulnerable to sudden apostasy, but so far, he has been able to stay on a tight rope. “

He said that Mr. Starmer helped him experienced The widespread national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, who traveled to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, to help set the foundation for Mr. Zelinski clips with the White House, and to Washington this week to consult with the National Security Adviser to Mr. Trump, Michael Walz.

Mr. Powell, the Chief of Staff, served simultaneously to Mr. Blair, who held the position of chief negotiator in Britain for the great Friday agreement, which ended contracts of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. He was also ready for Mr. Blair’s interesting effort to bring France and Germany in the military campaign against Iraq.

Even before the outbreak of the crisis on Ukraine, the government of Mr. Starmer was seeking closer relations with the continent, not only for defense and security but also on commercial and economic policy.

But thanks to Britain’s exit from the European Union, Mr. Trump appears to be putting Britain in a different category from the European Union, which may help to make Mr. Starmer a more effective mediator. The President suggested, for example, that he may not target Britain with comprehensive definitions, although it has not exempt it from a global tariff for steel and aluminum.

“There is one foot, a good thing for the United Kingdom in the current context,” said Mujtaba Al -Rahman, an analyst at the Eurasia Group.

“If it becomes a real rift across the Atlantic Ocean,” Mr. Rahman continued, “It is better that you have the protection force provided by the European Union, at least in some regions. In such a context, the UK will better direct things if it has two feet.”

Initially, the re -engagement of Mr. Starmer with the block was a half -step. After arriving at power last July, he began correcting the relations of post -Britain’s exit from the European Union in many European capitals, but he excluded two clear measures that could greatly strengthen trade: re -joining the giant, unified market of the mass and its customs union.

Analysts say his cautious approach is rooted in fear of the wrath of the voters who support Britain’s exit from the European Union and give ammunition to Najel Farraj, the British exit from the European Union and the leader of the Immigration Anti -Reform Party, UK reform, which has risen in opinion polls.

But the shock waves caused by Mr. Trump’s recent statements on Ukraine and Russia have swept some road barriers for wider reset. They gave Mr. Starmer the politician, even with those in Britain who recognize the need for more coordination about Europe’s defense.

“It changes the entire context and puts everything else in his right perspective,” said Mr. Rikits, who served as France’s ambassador.

Evan Rogers, the former British ambassador to the European Union, said that Mr. Starmer’s heavy diplomatic lifting had impressed the other European leaders, who were used to Britain either absent or mysteriously hostile.

“All of this reminded that the British have re -engaged, and they may be more serious,” said Mr. Rogers. “You are now facing such an existential crisis in the European Union to the point that mood has changed slightly.”

This can open a way to the most depth British re -participation, especially if the Europeans decide to increase cooperation on military spending by creating a new initiative outside the current structures of the European Union. Such initiative can include countries, including Britain, that agree to joint standards on issues such as military benefits and weapons purchases.

This would “create a unified defense market, which was not before.”

Despite all the potential upward trend, Mr. Rogers, who worked in Downing Street during the Iraq war, said it was concerned that Britain’s role as a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean will hinder his efforts to use his situation after Britain’s exit from the European Union to avoid the tariff imposed by Mr. Trump.

“My anxiety is that it may seem to others that the UK wants to get it in both directions,” said Mr. Rogers. “We want to be a bridge, and we have an alliance across the Atlantic Ocean, and to be pivotal in it, with the presentation of the argument at the same time that we are completely different from the European Union, and the United States can exempt us from its introductory work.”

He said: “It is a little difficult, to manage both pilgrims at the same time.”