PM: Special relationship will be even more special
LIZ Truss yesterday insisted the UK’s ‘special relationship’ with the US will grow ‘even more special’ in light of threats from Russia and China.
In an interview on US television, the Prime Minister said she was determined to foster even closer ties across the pond in the face of growing threats.
She was asked about White House concerns that she did not share the same belief in the special relationship as some of her predecessors in No 10, having once described it as ‘special but not exclusive’.
But Miss Truss said her first meeting with the US President in New York last week had been ‘great’. She told CNN: ‘I do think our relationship is special and it’s increasingly important at a time when we’re facing threats from Russia, [and] increased assertiveness from China. I’m determined that we make the special relationship even more special over the coming years.’
Joe Biden did not utter the words, first used by Winston Churchill, during bilateral talks with Miss Truss last week, but instead told her: ‘You’re our closest ally in the world.’ The White House denied the term had been ‘retired’ but offered to suspend its use, with an official saying: ‘We’ll shut it down until we can figure out what’s going on.’
Miss Truss said the UK and US were ‘stepping up as an alliance’ against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She added: ‘We should not be listening to his [president Vladimir Putin’s] sabre-rattling and his bogus threats.
‘Instead, what we need to do is continue to put sanctions on Russia and continue to support the Ukrainians.’ Miss Truss also vowed to work with allies to ensure Taiwan can defend itself against China, but refused to commit to the UK defending it militarily if Beijing invaded, as Mr Biden has promised.
Asked about their conversation amid reported tensions over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, Miss Truss said: ‘President Biden and I both agree that what is vital is to protect the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.’