British Foreign Secretary David Cameron held talks in Washington on Tuesday to press senior Republicans, led by former President Donald Trump, to continue the military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Cameron also met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
On Tuesday, Cameron described US support for Ukraine as the “keystone in the arch” of the fight for democracy in his latest appeal to Congress over a stalled package of aid.
The UK Foreign Secretary also warned that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is “vital for American and European security” as he urges lawmakers across the Atlantic to approve “urgent” further assistance for the country.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock earlier urged increased international efforts to supply more air defense systems in view of the threat of a major Russian offensive on the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.
The British Foreign Office said that during his visit to Washington, Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to “hold the line” and “go on the offensive” in 2025.
On Monday, Cameron headed to Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to meet with Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate who is a critic of continued US support for Ukraine. Lawmakers aligned with him are holding up an aid package for Kyiv in Congress.
The UK government said it’s “standard practice” for government ministers to meet allied nations’ opposition leaders in election years.
Blinken met in February with UK Labor Party leader Keir Starmer, who is the favorite to become prime minister in an election later this year. When Cameron was prime minister in 2012, he met the then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Cameron said he held a “productive” meeting with Trump in Florida.
The two men have disagreed on issues before, as when Cameron -- as prime minister -- denounced Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering America, which Trump called for during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cameron had called the Muslim ban proposal “divisive, stupid and wrong.”
Cameron was British prime minister during the UK’s 2016 referendum on whether to leave the European Union — a move he opposed but Trump enthusiastically supported. Cameron resigned after voters narrowly rejected his call to remain in the bloc.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unexpectedly brought Cameron back into government last year as Britain’s top diplomat.
Ahead of his trip, Cameron said that “success for Ukraine and failure for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin are vital for American and European security.”
“This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future,” he said. “The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to re-draw European borders by force, and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.”
In Washington, Cameron plans to urge US lawmakers to approve a new aid package for Ukraine, warning Congress that it is putting the security of the West at risk by continuing to hold up the funding. He’s due to hold talks with lawmakers including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, and is hoping to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose role is key.
In a video posted last week on social network X, Cameron said: “Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress.”
Cameron will emphasize the importance of increasing economic pressure on Russia and giving Ukraine “the military and humanitarian support it needs to hold the line this year and go on the offensive in 2025,” the foreign ministry said.
A $60-billion package of military aid is bogged down in the House of Representatives as populist conservatives seek to block further funding for the two-year-old conflict and some mainstream Republicans demand concessions on border security before supporting the bill.
After Cameron urged US lawmakers in February not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s, Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene said he should “worry about his own country.”
Gaza War
Cameron is also due to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, including efforts to reach a “sustainable cease-fire” and get more aid into Gaza, in talks with officials including Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The UK is sending a Royal Navy ship to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster efforts to open a maritime aid corridor between Cyprus and a temporary US-built pier in Gaza.
Cameron will reiterate Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, but will stress that major changes need to be made to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground, his office said.
