Cameron urges US to sign off £47bn military aid for Ukraine
Lord Cameron will today urge US leaders to put aside domestic issues in a bid to prevent a victory for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary is visiting Washington dC in an attempt to persuade lawmakers to finally sign off on a £47billion military aid package which has been held up by political squabbles.
US President Joe Biden and his senators have already approved the desperately needed funding for Ukraine’s defence against russia’s invasion. But a minority of republicans in the House of representatives have repeatedly blocked it from being rubber stamped, claiming that the security of the US’s border with Mexico is deemed to be a more significant issue with the party’s supporters.
Their stance saw Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warn over the
‘Failure for Putin is vital’
weekend that his country will lose the war if the funding is not swiftly approved.
Last night Lord Cameron said: ‘Success for Ukraine and failure for Putin are vital for US and European security. This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries 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 in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.’
In recent months, the significant reduction in military aid from the US has forced Ukrainian troops on to the backfoot. They have been forced to concede territory to Putin’s soldiers who, along some stretches of the frontline, have outgunned them by a ratio of six shells to one.
However, the republicans blocking the Ukraine funding have earned the support of donald Trump. The former president, who could return to the White House in 2025, wants an end to the conflict even on russia’s terms.
Lord Cameron is expected to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, as well as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
But as the Mail has recently revealed, UK funding for Ukraine has dropped compared with European allies. German support is set to trump the UK threefold in 2024/25, which is also being outstripped by donations from Scandinavia.
Lord Cameron’s visit will also add to the focus on the Middle East, including the path to a ceasefire in Gaza and increased humanitarian aid, as well as a push for an independent investigation into the deaths of seven aid workers, including three Britons, in a Israeli drone strike on an aid convoy.