UK defense chief urges US to back Ukraine amid growing row
- Britain’s defense chief urges the US to back Ukraine, citing mutual benefits for American military strength and defense industrial ties.
- He warned that rewarding aggression would let borders be redrawn by force and threaten global sovereign rights.
- Relations are strained after Trump called to replace Zelensky and criticized Kyiv over Russian diesel and refinery strikes.
- Prime Minister Burnham voiced complete solidarity with Zelensky and pledged tougher UK sanctions as Russia holds about one fifth of Ukraine.
Britain’s Defense Secretary Wes Streeting on Thursday urged the United States to support Ukraine amid a growing rift between the two countries, insisting it was in Washington’s short- and long-term interest.
“There is enormous opportunity for the US in terms of the support for Ukraine, the insight, the defense industrial relationship,” Streeting said during an event hosted by the CSIS think tank in Washington.
“I think the US will find in the years and the decades to come that Ukraine will contribute a hell of a lot to American strength, both in terms of military power, but also its defense industrial base too,” he said.
Streeting noted that while the United States is far removed geographically, “if aggression is rewarded, if borders can be redrawn by force, if the sovereignty of nations becomes negotiable, the consequences will not remain confined to Ukraine.”
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have been increasingly tense in recent days, with President Donald Trump calling for Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced after the Ukrainian leader slammed a US deal allowing more Russian diesel into global markets.
Trump also accused Zelensky of ignoring instructions to not strike Russian refineries, while Kyiv and its European allies warned that easing pressure on Moscow would help fund the Kremlin’s war.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham meanwhile reiterated his “complete solidarity” with Zelensky over the weekend. Downing Street said the premier also pledged that Britain would “strengthen its sanctions on Russia.”
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, now occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
