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Angela Rayner has insisted Britain’s approach to the war in Ukraine has not changed, despite Donald Trump’s decision to suspend military aid to the country.
With mounting calls for a radical rethink of the UK and Europe’s role in the conflict, the deputy prime minister claimed Sir Keir Starmer “won’t be derailed” by the US president’s announcement.
“He will continue that dialogue with our oldest and strongest ally, the US, and with European partners and Ukraine,” Ms Rayner said.
She was challenged over Sir Keir’s insistence on Monday that Mr Trump was not planning to scrap military aid to Ukraine, after his White House clash with president Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
But Ms Rayner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can remind you of what the prime minister said yesterday, and it has not changed from yesterday to today. He is laser focused on getting peace.
“He will not be derailed by announcements.” But it is clear Downing Street was blindsided by the decision, with Sir Keir saying on Monday: “I haven’t seen reports of the US withdrawing support for Ukraine. As I understand it, that is not their position.”
And the deputy PM also refused to say whether Sir Keir would pick up the phone to Washington in the wake of the announcement, which will put on hold more than $1 billion (£800m) in arms and ammunition for Ukraine that’s been ordered or is in the production process.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the US president had humiliated those who treated him as an ally hoping for peace – an apparent barb at Sir Keir.
“By suspending all military aid to Ukraine, Donald Trump has humiliated the people who pretended he was a reliable ally only in search of peace,” Sir Ed said.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine is “profoundly worrying”. “It is clear that Britain and Europe must re-arm much faster if we want to provide Ukraine with more than just warm words of support. We must work to keep America in, and Russia out,” she added.
Mr Trump’s decision came hours after he fired off a fresh tirade against Mr Zelensky for claiming a peace deal is still “very, very far away”.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer! This guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” Mr Trump said.
In a sideswipe at Sir Keir and other European leaders, he added: “In the meeting they had with Zelensky, [they] stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
Ms Rayner on Tuesday repeatedly refused to condemn Mr Trump over the move, describing it as “a matter for the US”.
“We are focused on support for Ukraine, bringing the US around the table alongside our European partners in Ukraine,” she said.
Ms Rayner added: “We have put our money where our mouth is, and stepped up our support for Ukraine through air defence, through military capabilities and through the military aid we give year upon year.”
Asked whether Britain would regret inviting Mr Trump for a second state visit after his clash with Mr Zelensky and his decision to turn on Ukraine overnight, she said the US is Britain’s oldest ally, and the “incredibly important relationship will endure, despite who may be in office at the time”.
In a stark contrast with Ms Rayner, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday morning responded to Mr Trump’s decision with the announcement of an €800 billion “ReArm Europe” plan.
“We are living in dangerous times, Europe’s security is threatened in a very real way,” Ms von der Leyen warned.
She said the plan will free up hundreds of billions of euros to invest in defence capabilities by mobilising private funds and loosening constraints around spending.
