The UK does not support Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin, which would see the US purchase millions of tonnes of diesel from Russia, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, he said the agreement had been done in the context of the US president facing elections in November and at a time when politicians across the world were under pressure to ease the cost of living.
He argued that the US and other allies should focus on increasing pressure on Russia to shorten the war “and to secure Ukraine’s freedom”.
The US-Russia deal is aimed at lowering fuel prices in America which have risen following the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the agreement would allow Moscow to raise funds to source new military equipment to continue the war.
In response, Trump suggested Ukraine should “get a new leader” who could reach a deal with Russia to end the long-running conflict between the two countries.
Streeting said it was a matter for Ukrainians to choose their leader but added that the country was “fortunate to have someone of his calibre, his courage and his integrity leading their war effort”.
He added that responsibility for the war “lies squarely and solely with President Putin and his imperialist ambitions”.
The defence secretary said it was not the first time there had been public disagreements between Washington and Kyiv, adding: “In these situations we see it as our role and our responsibility to try and bring our friends back together again.”
He also sought to emphasise the US’s support for Ukraine, saying there was “often an understatement” of how much help they had provided.
“We’re seeing US support for Ukraine in a number of ways from the provision of weapons – and we do a lot of procurement through the Americans – through to intelligence support and through the diplomatic initiative that Washington is leading.”
Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said Trump was “wrong” to call for Zelensky to go, adding: “The US is our closest ally but even close allies can disagree.”
Speaking on the ‘s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he also criticised the diesel deal saying it “sends out all the wrong messages”.
“If you want a peaceful world, you don’t do that sort of deal – you properly fund defence and prepare for war.”
Also appearing on the programme, Streeting said the UK had to plan its defence spending on the basis that there could be a Russian attack on Nato – the military alliance made up of 32 countries – by 2030.
He said the UK didn’t “seek conflict with Russia” but added: “Strength is the best form of deterrence.”
Earlier this year, John Healey – now the chancellor – resigned as defence secretary accusing Sir Keir Starmer’s government of not providing enough money for defence and said the UK had to be spending 3% of national income on defence by 2030, up from an estimated 2.6% this year.
Streeting said Healey would use the coming Budget to “plug” a £4.7bn funding gap to pay for the Defence Investment Plan.
He also said the government would set out a path to increase spending to 3.5% of national income by 2035 at next year’s Spending Review.
Pressed on whether the government could commit to spending 3% of GDP by 2030, Streeting said he would “always push for more defence spending” but added: “We’re not going to set out a spending commitment without showing how we will pay for it.”
“If I were the chancellor to sit on your programme now and say ‘3% in 2030’ without saying how we would pay for it, the markets would price in that risk and the cost of borrowing would go up.”