Overview

• President Emmanuel Macron has accepted an invitation from King Charles for his first UK state visit, scheduled for late May, eight years after taking office.
• President Donald Trump is expected to make a second state visit in September, though an official date has not yet been finalized.
• UK ministers are negotiating a mini-trade deal with the Trump administration, with hopes of signing it within three weeks to ease US tariff impacts.
• Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer maintains the UK can deepen ties with both the EU and the US, as trade talks with Brussels also intensify on food standards and carbon levies.
• Macron and Starmer are jointly leading European plans for a peacekeeping coalition in Ukraine, contingent on a ceasefire with Russia.