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British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday said that it was in America’s best interests to keep backing Ukraine in its war with Russia, and that the U.S. was at its strongest when it when it engaged with the rest of the world.
The U.K. has been at the forefront of efforts to shore up Ukraine’s armed forces, training soldiers and sending arms, as it fends off the Russian invasion.
But officials have privately expressed concern that a growing strand of isolationism among Republicans who back Donald Trump’s America First stance could choke off aid from Washington, which has so far sent $40 billion in military assistance — by far the biggest contribution.
Cleverly, who was in the U.S. to attend the Aspen Security Forum, told DailyMail.com he was confident that it was a minority position for now.
But he said his message to skeptics was that the world had to stick with Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said it was in America’s best interest to keep backing Ukraine in its war with Ukraine. He appeared at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday
The U.S. on Wednesday announced another $1.3 billion in aid for Ukraine. Equipment in the past has included the TOW missile system seen here being used in an exercise in Kentucky
‘Because if we don’t, if we allow Putin to prevail, if we don’t establish the principle that you cannot change borders by force, the world has become a more dangerous place,’ he said.
‘That’ll be more disruptive, more expensive, and therefore, it’s better that we deal with this issue … now and deal with it properly rather than a few years down the line.’
Hardline Republicans such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have slammed the Biden administration for spending billions on Ukraine while failing to close the southern border.
Others have highlighted how American families are struggling with rising bills while money flows overseas.
Cleverly said that was the wrong way to see America’s place in the world.
‘My observation is that if you look through America’s history, it has seen its greatest period of diplomatic influence and economic scale increase when it has been most engaged internationally,’ he said by phone as he waited for his plane to take off for London at the end of his trip.
The country became the world’s greatest economy during a period in the 20th Century when it looked outward rather inward.
A resident takes a picture of a crater in a cemetery of Odesa, hit during a missile strike, on July 19, 2023, amid the fighing in Ukraine
British officials are privately concerned that another Trump presidency could choke off aid to Ukraine. Boris Johnson recently met with the former president to try to keep him on board
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‘And during that period of time, while yes it was spending a lot of money outside its own borders, it was also seeing huge economic increases and increasing diplomatic heft,’ he said.
‘So my observation is that it is in America’s self-interest to continue being an engaged international player.
‘I think that’s where America ‘s head and heart naturally are. And yes, I think that’s good for the world.’
Trump is the most prominent of the Ukraine skeptics. He has complained of the impact the war has had on U.S. military stockpiles as missile systems, vehicles and ammunition and shipped to the battlefield.
He says he would immediately put pressure on both sides to end the conflict, raising fears that a settlement would allow Russia to hold on to occupied territory.
British politicians have been engaged in a not so covert operation to keep the American cash flowing.
A day earlier Cleverly chaired a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the promise and pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence. The UK holds the rotating presidency of the body
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a staunch ally of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, met with the former president in May reportedly to remind him of the importance of a Ukrainian victory.
‘If anyone can do it, then Boris can,’ said a Western diplomatic source.
Cleverly himself met Republicans in Washington during a May visit to gauge their position since taking control of the House in last year’s mid-terms.
And during this visit, he took pains to tell his U.S. audience that the conflict had not reached a stalemate and that it was vital to keep aid flowing.
‘Be under no illusion Russia is losing. Ukraine is winning,’ he said at the Aspen Security Forum, a gathering of world leaders, analysts and military officers in Colorado.
Wars don’t look like movies, he said, and now is not the time to give up on Ukraine because progress is slow.
‘The Russian forces have spent the winter digging in,’ he said.
‘They have riddled the South and the South-East of Ukraine with minefields with trench systems, with physical barricades, and Ukrainians are regaining territory over the course of weeks that Russia took months to acquire.
‘Russia is losing on the battlefield, and we mustn’t allow ourselves to be seduced by the Russian propaganda that somehow this is a stalemate. It is not.’
