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UK's Cameron in DC for Ukraine Talks 04/09 06:21
WASHINGTON (AP) -- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is in Washington
on Tuesday to press senior Republicans to unlock money for Ukraine, after
meeting a skeptical Donald Trump in Florida.
Cameron says victory for Ukraine is "vital for American and European
security," but the former president and presumptive Republican candidate is a
critic of continued U.S. support, and lawmakers aligned with him are holding up
an aid package for Kyiv in Congress.
The U.K.'s Foreign Office confirmed the meeting and said it's "standard
practice" for government ministers to meet allied nations' opposition leaders
in election years.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in February with U.K. Labour 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.
British officials did not say how the meeting went. Cameron and Trump have
had several notable differences of opinion in the past. Cameron called Trump's
proposal during his first presidential campaign to ban Muslims from the U.S.
"divisive, stupid and wrong."
Cameron was British prime minister during the U.K.'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.
In Washington, Cameron plans to urge U.S. 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."
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.
Ahead of the 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."
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
U.K. is sending a Royal Navy ship to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster
efforts to open a maritime aid corridor between Cyprus and a temporary
U.S.-built pier in Gaza.
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