(Bloomberg) — UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged the US Congress to treat aid to Ukraine as “an investment in American security” that will help the war-torn nation repel Russian invaders and stymie Vladimir Putin’s ambitions.
Cameron is on a two-day visit to Washington, with a stated aim of urging the US to unlock the flow of more funds to Ukraine to help win the war against Russia. His itinerary included meetings with congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle to “call for them to change the narrative on Ukraine this year” by approving $60 billion of funding that’s snarled up in Congress.
“My plea really to American congressmen is this is actually an investment in American security,” Cameron said Wednesday on MSNBC. “Ninety percent of what you spend will go into jobs here in America and you can make the decisive difference in getting Ukraine back on the front foot, and getting them to make sure Putin doesn’t win.”
While Cameron met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and spoke with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, he failed to secure a meeting with the Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson — who as House Speaker has the ability to facilitate a vote on that aid, which has already been approved by the Senate. Ahead of his trip, Cameron said on X that “Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress.”
Johnson has so far declined to call a vote on the funding as he tries to prevent a rebellion from Republican hard-liners who could sink the legislation and even try to oust him as speaker.
Cameron said he’d met with Johnson on his previous visit and would still be meeting Democrat and Republican congressional leaders. On Monday, he met in Florida with former President Donald Trump, describing their discussions as “good” but declining to give details of what he called a “private” encounter.
“This year, in the run up to November and whoever is president afterward, no one wants us to be in a situation where Putin is winning, Ukraine is losing and we’re having to deal with that situation,” he said. “We can help right now.”
Asked about the risk of Russian propaganda influencing Republicans, Cameron said: “A lie is around the world before the truth can get its boots on.”
“Don’t listen to Putin’s lies about Ukraine,” Cameron continued. “It is a free democracy that wants to be an independent sovereign country, that wants to be our ally and our friend, and we should be standing by our friends, because the world will be watching if we don’t.”
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