Britain will “stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine” regardless of US election result, defense minister says
The UK will continue to stand “side by side” with Ukraine regardless of the results of next year’s US election, the country’s newly appointed Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sunday.
Republicans are divided in their support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and recent polls suggest that most Republicans believe the United States should do less to help Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
A CNN poll conducted in August found that a majority of Americans now oppose approving more funding for Ukraine, and among Republicans the number of opponents has risen to 71%.
Asked what the U.K. would do if a Republican president were elected and decided to withdraw U.S. support for Ukraine, Shapps said in a statement that London’s support for Kiev was “opaque” and called the question “speculative “. Interview on the BBC this Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“It will be some time before we see what happens in the Republican elections, but we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in Ukraine,” Shapps told the BBC.
“I firmly believe that, as Ukrainian President Zelensky said this week, Americans actually believe that it is in their interest and the world’s interest to ensure that Ukraine remains a democratic nation,” he added added.
“We know what happens when we allow a tyrant to invade a neighbor and then move west. “And it is absolutely vital that Putin cannot enter into a democratic neighbor without consequences, and that is why Britain has stood firm and we will continue to do so,” the minister concluded.