UK Foreign Secretary's attempt to convince Trump to unblock assistance to Ukraine fails – The Guardian

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron's attempt during his visit to the US to persuade former president Donald Trump to allow the US Congress to provide Ukraine with US$60 billion in military assistance seems to have failed.

Source: The Guardian

Details: The Guardian reported that Cameron was not even allowed to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who theoretically could have brought the bill to a vote.

During a private dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Cameron urged him to recognise that it was in the US interests to prevent Vladimir Putin from being "rewarded" for seizing land in Ukraine.

He also insisted that before the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024, plans would be developed for each NATO member to achieve or exceed their target defence spending. 

Cameron hoped that Trump would signal a course change, at least making it easier for him to meet with Johnson.

At a joint press conference, Cameron and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated their calls for Congress to unblock assistance. Cameron insisted that he did not come to the US to "lecture" or interfere in internal US politics but was willing to abandon "diplospeak" as he feels very emotionally about the need for the US and Europe to unite to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression.

Quote from Cameron: "Future generations may look back at us and say, did we do enough when this country was invaded by a dictator trying to redraw boundaries by force? Did we learn the lessons from history? And did we do enough?"

More details: The Guardian wrote that, however, Cameron's arguments, both rational and emotional, seem to have run up against the power struggle within the Republican Party. 

The Republican Party members who opposed assistance to Ukraine continue to threaten Johnson with dismissal if he puts the assistance package to a vote.

Trump's campaign team stated that the dinner with Cameron discussed issues such as "the upcoming US and UK elections, policy matters specific to Brexit, the need for Nato countries to meet their defence-spending requirements and ending the killing in Ukraine".

Background: 

• Commenting on his meeting with Trump earlier in the day at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Cameron said that they had discussed geopolitical issues, such as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, but refused to go into details.
• Together with his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, Cameron called on the allies to do even more to ensure Ukraine's victory over Russia.
• Cameron previously called on his European counterparts to also put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson to approve aid for Kyiv.

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