Trump right that US presence in Ukraine could deter Russia, says Streeting
The president had said: ‘We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country.’
Donald Trump is right that a US business presence in Ukraine?would deter further attacks from Russia, a Cabinet minister has said.
Wes Streeting said America’s interests and presence in the country could put off Vladimir Putin from launching more attacks in the event of a ceasefire deal, after the US president made the same assertion on Thursday.
Following on from Sir Keir Starmer’s trip to Washington this week – in which he was pushing for US military assets to provide surveillance and intelligence protections to Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to sign a deal on Friday giving the US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals.
Mr Trump had said: “We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country.”
Mr Streeting told Sky News on Friday: “I think there are two things here. One is that I think President Trump is right about the US’s interests and presence in Ukraine acting as a deterrent.
“Secondly the United States has always – since Nato was founded – it has always been the backstop as well as the bedrock of European defence and security for Britain, and for the continent as well because of the shared?commitments that we have through the Nato alliance.”
He later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We certainly shouldn’t discount the importance of American business interests on the ground in Ukraine.”
The Prime Minister said he and Mr Trump had a “very productive discussion” about a US security guarantee for a Ukrainian peace deal, during their talks at the White House on Thursday.
The US president has been calling on European nations to step up on their defence spending and has suggested Europeans will be the ones to provide security guarantees in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal.
Mr Streeting also said Mr Trump should be judged on his actions rather than just his words, pointing to the American leader’s “robust” approach to statements.
The Health Secretary told Sky News: “President Trump is someone that needs to be judged on what he does, not simply on what he says.
“If I think about what he’s said in the past about Nato and European defence for example, he did it in a characteristically robust way, but the fundamental point he was making about Europe, including the UK, having to pay our way and pay our fair share for our continent’s own security was actually a fair challenge.
“He put it in his characteristically robust way – he’ll kind of slam his position down on the table to grab people’s attention and show he’s serious – but then he’ll work with people through the issues.”