Trump and Starmer speak after astonishing few days

What an extraordinary few days it has been for UK-US relations, with three developments each pointing in a different direction.

Imagine being a fly on the phone line as the prime minister and President Trump caught up last night, speaking for the first time since this blitz of recent overseas activity from the White House.

Firstly, there has been the outright public scepticism from the UK and European allies to America’s designs on Greenland.

Secondly, the circumspect position of the British government on Washington’s actions in Venezuela – in which the prime minister welcomed the ends, the removal of President Maduro, but didn’t want to be publicly drawn on the legality or otherwise of the means.

And then, thirdly, the pride in assisting America in the seizing of a ship in the North Atlantic, itself a reminder of how close to home this brings the headlines of recent days.

As one MP put it in the Commons, one of the frontlines against Russia is in our own backyard, off the north coast of Scotland.

The argument made in government is assisting America in seizing the Marinera was a no brainer, because this ship had connections not just to Venezuela but also to both Iran and Russia – adversaries of the US and the UK.

On Wednesday morning, after around a week of planning, the UK supported an American operation to seize the Russian flagged ship.

There were three strands to Britain’s support: allowing airbases in the UK to be used prior to and after the operation, providing a support vessel, known as RFA Tideforce to help the American forces and planes from the Royal Air Force providing what has been described as “surveillance support”.

RFA Tideforce has the capability of refuelling other ships, has a helipad and a medical unit.

Defence Secretary John Healey points out that the Marinera and ships like it are helping to finance Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Healey told MPs the UK’s involvement was in compliance with international law as it was in breach of sanctions imposed on Iran.

He said the vessel, sanctioned by the US since 2024, had moved 7.3m barrels of oil on behalf of Iran.

Iran’s evasion of sanctions “financed terror across the world”, he said, naming Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis as beneficiaries.

He said it was “telling” that the ship, while attempting to evade capture, had “adopted the Russian flag”.

The UK remains committed to “deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet”, he added.

It was, he said, a key part of the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine, as he took questions from MPs for nearly two hours about both the tanker and the prospect of British troops being sent to Ukraine after any peace deal is secured.

There is a widespread pride across the House of Commons for the support the UK has provided to Kyiv in recent years, but there are plenty of questions about the implications of the government’s promise of military help.

How many troops could it involve, for how long, and doing precisely what?

There are no answers yet to these questions, but ministers are saying there will be a debate and a vote in the Commons before any deployment.