Prime Minister Keir Starmer wore a broad smile aboard the plane home from Washington. He landed back in Britain on Friday with the satisfaction of a tricky mission not quite accomplished, but off to a flying start.

U.S. relationship have regularly made headline news in Taiwan lately. Many in Taiwan compare Ukraine's fate to its own, as China continues to threaten an invasion.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was flying to Washington on Wednesday after announcing a big increase in the British defense budget, an investment that he hopes will help persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain support for Ukraine as Washington pushes to end the war.

Russia said on Friday it was sending a new ambassador to Washington, the latest sign of a thaw between the two countries as they try to mend their damaged relations and seek an end to the war in Ukraine.

The agreement could be signed as early as Friday and plans are being drawn up for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington.

The theme of “hope” was chosen long before this year’s deterioration of Washington-Kyiv relations, but participants at an international Ukrainian studies conference said that hope is needed more than ever — not only in Ukraine but in the United States itself.

The leaders of France and Britain are making tag-team visits to Washington this week as Europe attempts to persuade President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal in the three-year-old war with Russia.

The U.S. has paused its intelligence sharing with Ukraine, cutting off the flow of vital information that has helped the war-torn nation target Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials said Wednesday that positive talks between Washington and Kyiv mean it may only be a short suspension.

Long-time Trump critic announced event days after US president berated Ukraine’s Zelensky in Washington. Concert date is not yet confirmed.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is using a visit to Washington to press President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbo

The agreement lacks explicit security guarantees for Kyiv; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed he had been invited this week to Washington but wasn’t sure he would go