In Washington the British foreign secretary will urge congressional leaders to advance aid for Kyiv in its war against Russia
David Cameron is holding talks with Donald Trump in Florida amid a push to shore up support for Ukraine and advance a new package of aid that is held up in Congress.
In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Ahead of his visit to Washington, the foreign secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today. It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.”
Cameron’s discussion with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, believed to be the first such meeting by a senior UK minister with Trump since he left office, covered Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the future of Nato, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Trump has repeatedly voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine and questioned America’s commitment to Nato, the international alliance which the US has committed to defending when necessary.
On his visit to Washington, Cameron will warn that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is “vital for American and European security” as he urges lawmakers across to approve “urgent” further assistance for the country.
He will hold talks with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and is hoping to meet the House speaker, Mike Johnson, whose colleagues are preventing the vote on an extra $60bn (£47bn) of Ukraine aid. He is not scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden.
Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to “go on the offensive” in 2025 and will urge congressional leaders to “change the narrative” on support for Kyiv, the Foreign Office said.
He was expected to tell Johnson to stop his colleagues from continuing to block the support amid opposition from hardliners aligned with Trump.
It’s the latest of several interventions made by Cameron over additional funding for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.
His previous comments drew the ire of rightwing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.
Cameron will say that nothing can match the pace and scale of US support, which remains “the keystone in the arch” in the fight for democracy, the department said.
“Success for Ukraine and failure for [Vladimir] Putin are vital for American and European security,” Cameron said before his trip. “This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future.
“The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to redraw European borders by force, and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.”
The UK announced another £2.5bn in aid earlier this year to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion and the EU has pledged another £43bn.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his country would lose the war unless Congress passes the military assistance package. “If Ukraine loses the war, other states will be attacked,” he said.
Talks will also focus on the Middle East, with the foreign secretary expected to set out the UK’s reasoning for continuing to export arms to Israel on Tuesday as ministers face ongoing pressure to disclose the official legal advice on the trade.
Downing Street said it had no plans to publish the legal advice but that it wanted to be transparent about its decision to continue exporting arms during the Gaza conflict.
Source: The Guaridan
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