The prime minister wants to keep everyone happy. He has been loath to criticize Trump, has warmed up Britain’s post-Brexit partnership with the European Union, avowedly backed Kyiv and thawed ties with China. At a time of geopolitical upheaval, he is attempting to squeeze Britain into an impossibly tight Venn diagram.

If there is a cease-fire without a backstop, it will simply give him the opportunity to wait and to come again,” Keir Starmer warned on the flight to Washington, D.C.

Keir Starmer warns Putin will 'go again' in Ukraine without proper deterrent after Trump talks - The US President has resisted calls to fully commit American troops to peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine

Keir Starmer will hold a pivotal meeting with Donald Trump, where he'll battle to persuade the US President not to betray Ukraine as the security of the continent hangs in the balance

The UK is achieving the role Brexiters said it would have - a leading voice in Europe while still outside the EU. But Keir Starmer must back his rhetoric on Russia with action.