David Cameron has rejected Donald Trump’s reported peace plan for Ukraine and warned against ‘appeasing’ Putin just days after his surprise meeting with the former US President in Florida to push for extra funding for the war.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has also slated the idea, to give up swathes of territory to Russia, branding it “primitive”.
The foreign secretary said a show of Ukrainian “strength” rather than “appeasement and weakness” would bring the conflict to a halt.
Mr Cameron has defended his face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which came after he previously called him “xenophobic, [and] misogynistic”.
But he appears to have been snubbed by a key Trump ally, House speaker Mike Johnson, as he meets US politicians to urge them to support extra funding for Ukraine’s war effort.
During an interview with CNN, Lord Cameron said: “Everyone wants to see an end to the killing and an end to the war… But you only get that by backing Ukraine, by showing strength.
“Peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness.”
Similar language has previously provoked the ire of some Republicans.
Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.
In return right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.
In a message to Republicans, the ex-prime minister also said the money would be good for US jobs and security and show the West was prepared to stand up to “bullies”.
Mr Trump, who hopes to become President again in November, is reportedly ready to push ahead with a ‘peace plan’ that would involve pressuring Ukraine to give up Crimea and the Donbas border region to Russia, according to the Washington Post.
Asked about the idea, Lord Cameron added: “I don’t think we should be discussing those things right now, we should be discussing how do we get Ukraine back on the front foot.
“They’ve showed incredible bravery. They’ve showed that they can win against Putin, they’re not going to lose for lack of morale, they’re not going to lose for lack of ingenuity on the battlefield.
“The only way they can lose is if we don’t give them the support they deserve.”
Lord Cameron said last week that he planned to discuss the funding with Mr Johnson, who must decide when to put the Ukraine package to a vote.
But the two men have not met on the trip.
Lord Cameron also warned decisions on Ukraine cannot be delayed until after November’s election.
“There’s a risk that Ukraine will lose more ground to Putin, and no one wants to be in a situation in November, where we could have acted, we could have helped, we could have beaten back Putin, we could have started the process of getting a Ukraine win and getting a just peace but we failed to do that,” he said.
He also urged US politicians not to be taken in by propaganda from Vladimir Putin.
Separately, the Ukrainian president warned ceding territory would pave the way for more Russian aggression.
“If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that’s the idea behind it, then it’s a very primitive idea,” Mr Zelensky told Politico.
“I don’t need a fantastic idea, I need a real idea, because people’s lives are at stake.”
