It was positive that Keir Starmer welcomed President Zelensky to Downing Street on Saturday after Trump and Vance’$ horrific White House antics. It was a pity that he did not go further and make Zelensky feel welcome by dressing down from a suit.
However, I’m not at all convinced by two things. First, the well intentioned but ultimately impotent talking amongst European leaders is likely to get us nowhere.
Secondly, whether directly or indirectly through Peter Mandelson, telling Zelensky that he has to go back and do a deal with Trump was wrong.
I appreciate that there has been a cost to supporting Ukraine and we need to look at how we do that. However, again, note three things. First, that the US demanding a rare earths deal goes well beyond making a financial settlement as the US gains an interest in Ukrainian territory. Secondly, the US are only one out of a number of countries that have supported Ukraine. Surely such a settlement needs to be discussed between all parties after the war, if at all. Thirdly, Britain, France and the US have really no claim back rights because they are parties to a treaty committed to maintaining Ukrainian security. In other words, supplying arms is the bare minimum possible. It is only the reality that direct involvement risks nuclear escalation that has prevented further involvement.
Furthermore, respecting the challenges of keeping an unpredictable Trump potentially involved, it is still the case that his actions since gaining office have been aggressive not just towards Ukraine but to Canada, Denmark/Greenland and Panama. Yet we are still waiting for our Prime Minister to clearly articulate that such behaviour is unacceptable.
On Sunday, he claimed that the US is a reliable ally. He did so by appealing to history. However that is to ultimately miss the point that what matters is the US now, under Trump, not the US in previous decades under previous presidents, though arguable in my lifetime it has been more the case that we have been America’s reliable ally.
Whilst diplomacy is crucial, it is important that we speak up clearly for what is right. As a minimum, we should not act in support of what is wrong.
Faithroots 