\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the moment of truth,\u201d former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia said in an interview. \u201cThey simply have to have the steel to stand up to Trump and tell him what they think, namely, that siding with Putin against Ukraine is a devastating blow to America\u2019s prestige and standing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Turnbull, who had his own clashes with Mr. Trump over refugees early in the president\u2019s first term, said that efforts to charm or cajole him on an issue this fundamental would likely go nowhere. \u201cIf the price of getting along with Trump is abandoning your allies, that is too high a price to pay,\u201d Mr. Turnbull said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A critical problem, said diplomats who dealt with Mr. Trump in his first term, is that he is not the same leader he was then.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Trump arrived in 2017, he knew nothing and nobody,\u201d said Gerard Araud, who was France\u2019s ambassador to Washington and accompanied Mr. Macron to multiple meetings with Mr. Trump. \u201cNow he thinks he knows everything, he\u2019s more radical on the substance, and he is surrounded by yes-men.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
That will make it harder for the European leaders to move Mr. Trump off his erroneous claim that the United States, in giving billions of dollars of military support to Ukraine, was essentially the victim of a con job by an unpopular, undemocratic Ukrainian leader. Nor will it be easy, diplomats say, to warn Mr. Trump of the dangers of giving too much away to Mr. Putin in a negotiation.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean the leaders won\u2019t try.<\/p>\n
Mr. Macron, who arrives at the White House on Monday, said during a live broadcast on social media last week, \u201cI\u2019m going to say to him, basically: \u2018You can\u2019t be weak against President Putin. It\u2019s not you, it\u2019s not your trademark, it\u2019s not in your interest.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Starmer, who will be in Washington on Thursday, has not publicly shared his strategy for dealing with Mr. Trump. But British diplomats said they expected him to emphasize Britain\u2019s willingness to do more to provide for Europe\u2019s defense by contributing troops to a Ukraine peacekeeping force. Mr. Starmer made the troop commitment last week, but said it would work only if the United States acted as a \u201cbackstop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump doesn\u2019t do gratitude,\u201d said Kim Darroch, who served as Britain\u2019s ambassador to Washington during much of Mr. Trump\u2019s first term. \u201cBut you will at least get some recognition that you are the most forward-leaning of the European countries about buying into his idea of a peace deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
British officials said Mr. Starmer would tell Mr. Trump that Britain was considering additional military aid to Ukraine and planned to increase spending on its own defense. Mr. Darroch said Mr. Starmer should pledge to boost Britain\u2019s military spending to 2.5 percent of economic output by a specific date. (Mr. Starmer has promised to reach that threshold but has not set a deadline.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The prime minister, Mr. Darroch said, should also press Mr. Trump to describe the peace deal he is seeking with Russia and what pressure he plans to put on Mr. Putin to achieve it. While Britain is expected to announce additional sanctions against Russia before Mr. Starmer goes to Washington, Mr. Trump has signaled a willingness to end Russia\u2019s economic and diplomatic isolation.<\/p>\n
Mr. Starmer showed some daylight between him and Mr. Trump after the president\u2019s condemnation of Mr. Zelensky, telling the Ukrainian prime minister by phone that he was a \u201cdemocratically elected leader\u201d within his rights to \u201csuspend elections during wartime as the U.K. did during World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having made his point, Mr. Darroch said, Mr. Starmer should avoid getting drawn into a debate with Mr. Trump over Mr. Zelensky. Instead, he said, the prime minister should play to Mr. Trump\u2019s vision of himself as peacemaker.<\/p>\n
Mr. Araud agreed, saying: \u201cIt would be a mistake for the Europeans to argue with Trump about who started the war, or whether Zelensky is a dictator. That is a non-starter for a Trumpian approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Araud said he expected Mr. Macron to press Mr. Trump for security assurances in return for Europe\u2019s assembling a deterrent force. France and Britain are trying to persuade Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Baltic countries to join such a force.<\/p>\n