Former PM will lead delegation and urge lawmakers to stand up to Russia as she warns of threat of ‘hostile axis of totalitarian regimes’
By Will Hazell, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
25 November 2023 •
Liz Truss is to lead a delegation to Washington DC this week aimed at stiffening the resolve of US Republicans to “stick with Ukraine” in its war against Russia.
The former prime minister will tell Republican lawmakers that conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic need to stand up to Russia because it is part of a “totalitarian axis” threatening the West.
It comes amid concerns that a future American administration could pull the plug on its support for Kyiv, with several candidates for the Republican presidential nomination criticising the scale of military aid to Ukraine.
Ms Truss is part of a delegation organised by Conservative Friends of Ukraine which also includes former Conservative leaders Lord Howard and Sir Iain Duncan Smith and the MPs Jack Lopresti and Mark Francois.
During their week in Washington, the group will hold talks on Capitol Hill with Senators, Congressmen and other figures in the Republican Party with the aim of cementing unity against Russian aggression.
The visit will take place against the backdrop of continued wrangling over a US military aid package to Ukraine.
A group of hardline Right-wing Republicans have called for funding to be diverted to Israel as it fights Hamas, while others have said the US should prioritise containing China over supporting Ukraine.
However, during their visit, the Tory delegation is expected to draw parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas attack on Israel.
They will also warn that allowing Vladimir Putin to prevail will give succour to China and other states hostile to the US, such as Iran and Venezuela.
Ms Truss said: “The West is facing a very real threat from a hostile axis of totalitarian regimes. It is vital that Conservatives stand up for our values of freedom and democracy.
“We are in Washington to deepen our partnership with our Republican allies in taking on these evil-doers who would destroy our way of life.
“This visit could not come at a more critical time, given the appalling attacks on Israel, Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and the sabre-rattling of Xi on Taiwan.”
Lord Howard said that while the conflict in the Middle East had “taken the war in Ukraine off the headlines”, the “stakes remain high”.
“If Putin gets his way, the future will look bleak for the Baltic states, Taiwan and the Middle East,” he said.
“So it is vital that the support of the West for Ukraine should remain steadfast. This is the message my colleagues and I will be taking to Washington.”
Lord Howard said the delegation would be meeting Republican Congressmen “some of whom may be having doubts about the right action to take”. “We will be doing our very best to persuade them to stick with Ukraine,” he added.
Sir Iain warned that the West was facing a “new authoritarian axis” with China at its apex, posing “the single greatest threat that the free world has faced since the ending of the Cold War”.
And Mr Lopresti, the chairman of Conservative Friends of Ukraine and a deputy chairman of the Tory Party, said: “Continuing Western support for Ukraine in their hour of need is the only way we can prevent a Europe dominated by Putin’s Russia.
“As the Ukrainians say: we must build the arsenal of the free world together.”
Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has said that he would settle the “disastrous war” between Russia and Ukraine in “one day” if elected president again.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and wildcard presidential candidate, has meanwhile called for Ukraine to make “major concessions to Russia” and has said that if the US continues military aid the country will end up under the control of a “post-Zelensky warlord”.
Ron DeSantis, who is also seeking the Republican nomination, was criticised in March after he said that protecting Ukraine was not a “vital interest” for the US and described the conflict as a “territorial dispute”.
The Florida governor later toned down his remarks, admitting Russia had invaded Ukraine and calling Putin a “war criminal”.
This article has seriously agitated the bosses of the troll farms in SP and their useful idiots in the west.
Shitloads of new accounts have opened with fake English names; “Ted Smith” etc etc. (You have to be a paid subscriber to comment in the DT).
Re the graphic of military aid to Ukraine:
UK GDP is $3.131 trillion
U.K. has committed $6.6 billion to Ukraine
US GDP $26.95 trillion :
8.6. x the U.K. economy
US has committed $42.8 billion to Ukraine
If the US was to give the same amount proportionally to Ukraine that the U.K. does, it would come to $56.76 billion, not $42.8 billion.
Germany GDP : 4.072 trillion
Germany has committed $7.5 billion to Ukraine. It recently doubled its spending commitment, instantly making it Ukraine’s second biggest donor.
Qn: why has Scholz done this? Has he suddenly received an injection of compassion and integrity? Hopefully yes. But might it be something else? Such as doubling the amount of influence he has in Kyiv?
That would possibly explain the unsubstantiated claims of a Germany-US pact to force Zel to the table with a blood-drenched demon like putler.
“Lord Howard said the delegation would be meeting Republican Congressmen “some of whom may be having doubts about the right action to take”.
Politicians who must be talked into doing the only right thing should not be politicians at all. It’s like convincing a janitor that the mop bucket must contain water. How exactly can they expect to make America great again by letting evil spread across the globe? Not that America needs to be made great again, because it is already great!
The Welsh-Jewish lawyer Michael Howard (as he then was) was leader of the Conservative opposition for a couple of years during the interminable Blair-Brown years. He actually won back quite a few seats, eventually paving the way for Cameron’s Tories in 2010.
My dad worked on his campaign and said he was one of the most persuasive people he ever met.
He is now one year older than Joe Biden, but still sharp as a tack. So he’s a good pick for Liz’s delegation. He’s on the right wing of the Tories, but of course loathes PutinaZiism and the CRINKS.
It’s a rotten, filthy job to talk to cunts like Gaetz, Vance, MTG etc, but someone’s got to do it.
“It’s a rotten, filthy job to talk to cunts like Gaetz, Vance, MTG etc, but someone’s got to do it.”
So true! I could never bring up enough respect to talk to such rubbish. I’m glad that such an experienced and persuasive person as Howard is doing so. Thanks for sharing that info.
In the movie A Clockwork Orange, the protagonist; memorably played by Malcolm McDowell, having committed a series of savage crimes, is strapped into a chair and forced to watch hours and hours of nazi war crimes.
They should insist on the trumputler fan club undergoing the same process prior to discussions.
In the case of puker, they should do the same but with one additional feature : the attachment of electrodes to his knackers.
That would be the right thing to do. It’s too easy to side with evil without seeing what this evil has and is doing.