Foreign Secretary advises regional leaders to prove ‘strength’ to whoever wins November presidential election

James Rothwell IN BERLIN

7 March 2024 • 7:25pm

Europe must do everything possible to rein in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza before the next US president is sworn in, Lord Cameron said at a press conference with his German counterpart in Berlin on Thursday.

The Foreign Secretary, who has previously raised concerns about Donald Trump’s approach to the war in Ukraine, said the region’s leaders needed to shepherd the conflicts into the “best possible place” to prove their “strength” to whoever wins the November election.

His remarks came weeks after Ben Hodges, a former commander of the US army in Europe, called Mr Trump “strategically illiterate” and urged the former president’s Republican allies to pass a stalled $60 billion (£46.9 billion) aid package to Ukraine.

Lord Cameron said: “What we should do in the next eight months is make sure that whichever dossier we’re talking about, whether we move towards a peace process in the Middle East or whether it’s this vital fight for Ukraine [against] Russian aggression, we want to get these things in the best possible place by the time of the US election.

“So whoever is the victor in that contest can see that … we’re working in partnership [and] have moved those onto the best possible plane they can be.”

Lord Cameron has previously accused Mr Trump of not taking a “sensible approach” to European defence, addressing the US presidential candidate’s claim that he would encourage Vladimir Putin to attack Nato countries that do not meet its spending commitments.

The Foreign Secretary has also drawn ire from Trump supporters after making comparisons between Washington’s refusal to approve more Ukraine aid with the appeasement of Hitler. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a key Trump backer in the House of Representatives, said in response that Lord Cameron should “kiss my ass”.

Also on Thursday, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of Nato, hailed a “historic day” as Sweden officially joined Nato, ending a two-year accession process.

At the Berlin press conference, Lord Cameron insisted that Germany and Britain were “united”, despite the embarrassing leak of a recording last week of dicussions between top German air force officers, who discussed the highly sensitive issue of British troop deployment in Ukraine.

Earlier on Thursday, Lithuanian officials had also disclosed what appeared to be a second serious data leak in a Nato country, as they revealed that Russia had “likely” gained access to sensitive planning documents about last summer’s Nato summit in Vilnius.

In its annual security assessment, the VSD, Lithuania’s state security department, said: “It is very likely that a cyber-group co-ordinated by the GRU [Russian military intelligence] intercepted non-public information related to the meeting, most likely in order to discredit Lithuania in the international arena.

“It is possible that some of the intercepted information will be used to plan new disinformation operations.”

There is increased concern across Nato’s European members about Russia relying on cyber attacks, as well as old-fashioned spying tools, to intercept sensitive conversations being held on the war in Ukraine.

Lord Cameron went on to say that sending long-range weapons to Ukraine is not “escalatory”, as Berlin faces growing pressure to send powerful Taurus missiles to Kyiv.

He said: “I can only speak for Britain, I can speak for the fact that we have found with the weapons systems we’ve supplied to the Ukrainians it has helped them to defend themselves from this terrible aggression.”

Mr Cameron stressed that Germany deserved credit for the “huge amount” of support it had already given to Ukraine, but added that he wanted to “make one point” about the issue of escalation against Russia.

He appeared to be referring to Olaf Scholz’s concerns that sending powerful Taurus missiles to Ukraine risks dragging his nation into direct military confrontation with Russia, a reason the German chancellor has repeatedly given to rule out deliveries.

Lord Cameron said: “I think the history of this is very clear. That at every stage it’s been said if you give anti-tank weapons to the Ukrainians that’s escalation – no it wasn’t. If you give tanks to the Ukrainians that’s escalation – no it wasn’t. If you give long-range artillery or long-range fire to the Ukrainians it’s escalation – no it isn’t.

“And I think the reason for that is clear. If what you are doing is helping a country defend itself from an illegal and completely unjustified aggression, then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to fight back to recover its territory.”

Lord Cameron also said that “as long as we’re not in a situation where a Nato soldier is killing a Russian soldier”, then supplying Ukraine with weapons was merely helping Kyiv in terms of self-defence, not escalating the war.Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, stopped short of hinting at future Taurus deliveries but did stress that all Ukraine’s allies should take all steps necessary to help the country defend itself from Russia.