LONDON — The British government pushed back on Tuesday against Donald Trump’s assertion that European nations spend too much time discussing the war in Ukraine without reaching a resolution.

The U.S. president told POLITICO’s Dasha Burns in a Monday interview for a special episode of The Conversation that European leaders “talk too much” about the conflict and have failed to help end the war.  

“They’re not producing,” Trump said. “We’re talking about Ukraine. They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.”

POLITICO on Tuesday named Trump the most influential figure shaping European politics in the year ahead, a recognition previously conferred on leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson challenged Trump’s framing of the Ukraine peace negotiations, which have entered a pivotal moment almost four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“I would reject that,” the spokesperson said. “You’ve seen the number of countries involved in the Coalition of the Willing discussions. You would also see the work that the U.K. has done in terms of leading the response on sanctions, including against the shadow fleet [carrying embargoed Russian goods].”

However, they confirmed that British support for the U.S.-led peace plan for Ukraine remained strong, and welcomed “the significant U.S. efforts to bring about peace to Ukraine, which no one wants more than President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy.”

Washington has held separate talks with both Moscow and Kyiv, neither of which has yielded an outcome that satisfies both sides.

The spokesperson also pushed back against the U.S. president’s desciption of the continent as a “decaying” group of nations led by “weak” people.

“You’ve seen the strong relationship between the prime minister and the president,” they said, noting that the U.S.-U.K. trade deal signed earlier this year was about “securing and protecting and creating jobs.”

The spokesperson also referenced the unity of the E3 nations (Britain, Germany and France) in speaking with Zelenskyy at Downing Street on Monday: “We will continue to put our shoulder to the wheel in order to strengthen Ukraine’s position, in order to bring this barbaric war to an end.”

Starmer will meet U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Warren Stephens at Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon for a previously scheduled appointment.

Middle ground

Trump also hit out against left-wing London Mayor Sadiq Khan, claiming the city’s first Muslim mayor had only been elected “because so many people have come in. They vote for him now.”

Downing Street did not challenge that assertion: “The prime minister has a strong relationship with the U.S. president and a strong relationship with the mayor of London and on both is committed to working together in order to deliver stronger outcomes for the British people.”

But the U.S. president’s comments drew some criticism from Labour MPs.

“Strength is the ability to work with others and bring them along with you, to listen and to make friends,” argued Emily Thornberry, who chairs Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee. “It’s not strong to try to push other people around.”

A backbench Labour MP, granted anonymity to speak candidly, admitted it was “hard to remain calm when you read Trump when he’s in full flow.” The MP added that the U.K. government should “be absolutely unapologetic and fearless when making our views known.”

“It’s clear Trump sees [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as an ally in subduing Europe and we can’t allow that to happen.”

A third Labour MP was dismissive of Trump’s stance on European politics: “So he’s allowed to interfere with our politics, but God forbid I do a bit of door-knocking for Kamala Harris.”

Esther Webber contributed to this report.