Exclusive: Donald Trump puts the world order in jeopardy as Keir Starmer walks dangerous tightrope….See More

The Prime Minister is having to play diplomatic gymnastics to help bring about world peace

Shortly before Christmas in 1984, Margaret Thatcher famously declared her liking of Mikhail Gorbachev, insisting “we can do business together”. Just three months after their historic London meeting, “the great reformer” became leader of the Soviet Union.

Together with the US’s then-president Ronald Reagan, the three plotted the ending of the Cold War. By the end of the decade, the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain had fallen, Europe was being dramatically reshaped as the USSR dissolved and modern Ukraine emerged from the geopolitical maelstrom. Roll forward 40 years from that historic meeting and Sir Keir Starmer finds himself in a strangely similar, albeit far more complex, position.

Like the Iron Lady, the current Prime Minister is having to do “business” with a president to bring about global peace.

Donald Trump’s “shock and awe” start to his presidency, coupled with his allegiance with Vladimir Putin, ripped up the rule book and left the world order, in place since 1945, teetering on the brink.

As well as trying to broker peace in Ukraine, the PM, along with French president Emmanuel Macron, is having to act as a transatlantic bridge to shore up America’s long-term commitment to European security.

The future of NATO as we know it is in jeopardy and we now have the previously unthinkable situation of America siding with Russia and North Korea at the United Nations vote on ending the Ukrainian conflict.

The saloon bar diplomacy of last week’s infamous White House bust-up between Mr Trump, his vice-president JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky was indicative of how the tectonic plates are shifting.

Following his stunning US election comeback victory, few would have been surprised that Mr Trump was intent on shaking things up during his second crack at the presidency.

The Republican strongman eventually rumbled into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, during a January deep freeze, immediately signing a blizzard of executive orders that signalled he meant business.

But it was his unexpected call with Putin on February 12 which really sent shockwaves around the world as he offered the Kremlin tyrant a way back in from the cold.

Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had turned him into a pariah, with the UN overwhelmingly adopting a resolution condemning Russia for its “unlawful use of force against Ukraine.”