19 August 2025
Sir Ben Wallace warned Trump is siding with Putin. Picture: LBC / Alarmy
Sir Ben Wallace has told LBC that Donald Trump appeared to be siding with Vladimir Putin during crunch talks in Washington on Monday
Speaking with LBC’s Tom Swarbrick, the former defence secretary warned that the US president risks caving to the Russian leader’s demands and putting the future of Ukraine in jeopardy.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was one of several European leaders to join talks in Washington on Monday, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.
It followed the US President’s meeting with Putin late on Friday, which saw the red carpet quite literally rolled out for the Russia leader – a move that raised concerns among world leaders.
Sir Ben Wallace continued that while the European leaders were “very clear” in ensuring making their language matched President Zelenskyy’s, Mr Trump’s appeared to “be matching that of President Putin’s”.
“That is a worry because a non-united front is the very thing that Putin wants – a sort of division. And that emboldens him.”
Sir Ben added that Trump also seemed to be siding with Russia rather than the West when it came to “democratic values”.
“He [Putin] takes the Russians’ lines. He tries to view Putin almost as greater than an equal Zelenskyy
Read more: As it Happened: Trump confirms ‘no deal’ with Putin at press conference alongside Russian leader
“One of those [Trump’s] ridiculous rottweilers in the Oval Office asked Zelenskyy ‘when will you stop sending Ukrainian men to their deaths?’
“Well, that’s very easy to answer. That’s when Putin stops illegally invading. And when your country is invaded, you don’t send people to war. They funnily enough, do their duty, join up and defend their nation.”
Sir Ben added that if the US president concedes to the Russian leader’s demands, it risks giving Putin a greater opportunity to seize even more land from Ukraine.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted “there will be security guarantees” after yesterday’s talks at the White House.
He added the meeting equated to a “significant step towards ending the war” after discussions with European leaders
“Ukraine feels this strength, and we will do everything to make the path to peace a reality,” he added.
Sir Ben Wallace continued on the subject of the two leaders: “If Donald Trump concedes Putin’s demand to not move the front line or give Putin the most important part of Donetsk – from a strategic military point of view, that’s the big forest belt up in the north west of the country – then what he does is he allows Putin to consolidate, go away, rearm, and he has a perfect strategic springboard and geographic position to further invade when he wants to.”
Sir Ben warned that this would leave Western troops fixed to one part of Ukraine if they are deployed as part of peacekeeping efforts following a potential ceasefire deal.
This would leave them to “police a Putin ceasefire rather than a Ukrainian one” while Russia “goes off and rearms”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, after meeting with President Donald Trump and European leaders. Picture: Alamy
Sir Ben said this sets up a so-called “strategic dilemma”, which he warned could leave areas on the NATO frontline including Estonia or Finland vulnerable to Russian expansion.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said following the meeting that the coalition of the willing “will now work with the US” on security guarantees.
But Sir Ben said he wanted to see a “very clear statement from the United States” that these guarantees “willinclude US forces or troops alongside Europeans.”
Following the meeting, President Trump said he spoke directly with Putin to begin planning a meeting between the Russian leader and Mr Zelenskyy, to be followed by a three-way meeting involving himself.
Sir Keir Starmer hailed Monday’s talks and welcomed the US’ security guarentees. Picture: Alamy
Mr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to meet Putin, but said that no date has been officially set for any future talks.
“If Russia proposed to president of the United States bilateral, and then we will see the result of bilateral, and then can be the trilateral,” Zelenskyy told reporters outside the White House following the meeting.
“Ukraine will never stop on the way to peace,” he added, declaring that he’s ready for talks in “any format”.
Mr Trump has claimed that Moscow will “accept” multinational efforts to guarantee Ukraine’s security.
Posting on his Truth Social platform after the meeting, Mr Trump also described the talks as “very good”, adding: “During the meeting we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.
“Everyone is happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called president Putin and began arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between president Putin and president Zelensky.
“After the meeting takes place, we will have a trilat which would be the two presidents plus myself.”
A “trilat” (another Krasnov fabricated word) would be a disaster : it would of course be two on one, with putler taking the JD VanZkov role.
Sir Ben btw is not a Krasnov critic. I don’t remember him ever doing it before.
He’s a man of great integrity and would have been a shoo-in for the top job at Nato, but Biden blocked him.
“One of those [Trump’s] ridiculous rottweilers in the Oval Office asked Zelenskyy ‘when will you stop sending Ukrainian men to their deaths?’
“Well, that’s very easy to answer. That’s when Putin stops illegally invading. And when your country is invaded, you don’t send people to war. They funnily enough, do their duty, join up and defend their nation.”
Exactly right Ben.
“Sir Ben added that Trump also seemed to be siding with Russia rather than the West when it came to “democratic values”.
“He [Putin] takes the Russians’ lines. He tries to view Putin almost as greater than an equal Zelenskyy.”
Well, before any meeting takes place, Krasnov already gave Crimea away and banned Ukraine from Nato.
How is that a negotiation?
A turd called Brian Lanza, an adviser to Krasnov, also gave Crimea away even before the new administration started.